About
Matt MacPake is a photographer living in London. His work is a study of community, place, and family. Throughout his work, Matt looks at daily life in the neighbourhoods and streets he walks and lives in.
Matt's portrait 'A Lady Dancing' won the British Journal of Photography's Portrait of Humanity award this year. It was featured in the Hoxton Mini Press book and exhibited in Photo22 (Melbourne) and India FotoFest. Matt was also shortlisted for the Portrait of Britain award and featured in the Then There Was Us Annual AND.
In 2015, Matt's project, To and from the North Circular, was shortlisted for The Bar Tur award at the Photographers Gallery. The portrait of security guard John came fourth in that year's Portrait Salon and was featured in The Guardian and BBC. Recently, just before the pandemic, Matt exhibited in London at Photofusions, Sixteen xS2AU (2020). Matt also was part of an artist talk series called Fam: What does Fam mean to you? Hosted by Photofusion and curated by the collective S2AU.
In 2019, Matt had three images selected for The Portrait of Britain, Hoxton Mini Press book (Vol 2). The portrait of Matt's daughter Dottie (Breakfast at Nana's, Carlisle, 2018) was selected as a winner and featured in a nationwide exhibition on JCDecaux screens.
Matt was born in northwest England (1978) and studied Photography Ba (Hons) at Blackpool and Fylde College, graduating in 2005. In 2015, Matt received a Master's in Photography from the University of Hertfordshire, being awarded a Distinction.
Matt has shown work in Berlin, San Francisco, Tokyo, Des Moines, IA, Johannesburg, Krakow, London, Bristol, and Brighton.
Matt's work has been featured in The British Journal of Photography, Palm Photo Prize, Reclaim Photography Festival, Photo East, and Bristol Photography Festival in recent years. Matt is a programme leader and a senior photography lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. He is currently working on projects about his daughter, the children in his connected family, and the capital city of London.
