Matthew Leifheit


Matthew Leifheit is an American photographer, writer, magazine-editor, publisher, and professor based in Brooklyn, NY.

Biography

Early life and education

Leifheit was born and raised in Chicago, Il. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 2011, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 2015, Leifheit enrolled at Yale University graduating in 2017, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Publishing

''MATTE Magazine''

In 2010, while at RISD, Leifheit founded MATTE Magazine, a magazine platform for new ideas in photography which he edits and publishes. MATTE Magazine often features a photographer's work, a portrait of the photographer by Leifheit, and an interview of the artist conducted by Leifheit.

''Vice'' magazine

After graduating RISD, Leifheit was hired as photo-editor by Vice. While photo-editor at Vice, Leifheit put a photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe on the cover of the 2014 fashion issue. In 2016, he wrote an article featuring the work of Neil Winokur, highlighting an "overlooked" photographer with work in many museum collections including Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

MATTE Editions

In 2018, MATTE Editions published a monograph by Matthew Morocco titled Complicit. In 2019, MATTE Editions published Slow Morpheus, a monograph by photographer Rachel Stern.

Writing

In addition to editing and publishing, Leifheit has also written on art and photography for Time and Aperture.

Photographic practice

Leifheit's photography focuses on the human figure and their lived environment; his work features a variety of locations from Fire Island, Key West, the crowds surrounding New York City's Freedom Tower, Providence, and others. In addition to his fine art photography work, Leifheit works as an assignment photographer for a variety of publications including The New York Times and The New Yorker, photographing subjects such as Vince Aletti and Mary Boone.

Exhibitions

Selected solo exhibitions