Amerikana Magazine - Born In Nebraska: the photography of Alexandra Matzke

Born In Nebraska: the photography of Alexandra Matzke

By Sam Dickey

Alexandra Matzke is a talented and ambitious photographer from perhaps the most unlikely of places: Nebraska. Her personal documentary of life in her home state reveals a land and people far richer and more nuanced than most people, even most Midwesterners, would assume exists in a state most believe to be a giant corn field. Dispute an overtly liberal political bias, her photos eschew trite “Red State” stereotypes and instead focus on common human denominators of family, friendship, and a sense of wonder about the world.

I spoke to Alax via instant messenger about her rather unique background in photography, her thoughts about her home state, and her plans to take her photographic philosophy of shared humanity international with a visit to an infamous conflict zone.

Amerikana Magazine: So let’s start with your background; where you’re from, how long you’ve been doing photography etc.

Alex Matzke: [I was] born and raised in Nebraska. My mom does photographic work using polaroids, and emulsion manipulation. So I feel like it’s always been around. but I didn’t start to consider it seriously until I was in college.

AM: Did you major in photography?

Alex Matzke: Not exactly. I started college as a film student, and was in that program my first two years. The college I went to offered a self-design major, which basically means you write the curriculum. I switched to that in my third year, combining all of my experience with film and new media along with photo and psychology. The major ended up being called Digital Media in Art Therapy. Some day I’d like to go back to school for my doctorate and do art therapy. I got the idea for my major working at an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless teens, traditional art forms were somewhat inaccessible to some of our residents. I noticed that sometimes working with a computer made it easier. But growing up in Nebraska was really sheltering in some ways. After my experience working at the shelter I decided to focus on photography and grow up a little bit before I focused on art therapy fulltime.

AM: What is growing up/living in Nebraska like. I think people from outside the plains states have one idea of it that isn’t really that accurate. what can you tell us about it?

Alex Matzke: When you walk down the street, people say hello, look you in the eye, and smile. Leaving the Midwest for college was really startling at first. I mean, I’d left the midwest before that experience, but never for such an extended period of time. you forget, when you’re gone, how open and welcoming these people are.

I had a student teacher in high school who came out from california and really didn’t expect us to have electricity and running water. We’re not a totally different country or anything. But I really think it’s the people that make the difference.

AM: Where did you go to school?

Alex Matzke: The College of Santa Fe, but it’s called Santa Fe university of art and design now.

AM: Your work on Flickr is sort of a personal documentary; I’m seeing a lot of shots of freinds and family, and everyday sort of scenes. What motivates your choice of subjects?

Alex Matzke: I like that, personal doc, because that’s really what it is. Occasionally the work I do professionally will cross over to my personal work but most of it is catching something in the moment. Like practice.

AM: What sort of pro work do you do these days?

Alex Matzke: Weddings, family portraits, commercial work like corporate headshots.

AM: I noticed some wedding shots on your Flickr stream that I found really interesting. I’ve shot weddings, and the thing I’ve found remarkable is how it basically combines documentary, photojournalism, and portraiture all into one shoot, or at least this was how I found it works best to approach the subject. How do you approach shooting weddings?

Alex Matzke: In a very similar way. I’ve found that most people have a preconceived idea of what wedding photography is. So when I first meet a couple we talk about this. There are a number of ways I can approach the day, because everyone wants to highlight something specific to their unique event. I see it more as a photojournalistic event where I also must include formal portraits along with the candid stuff.

AM: So sort of calling back to an earlier question, a lot of your photographs deal with Nebraska -places, people, scenes etc. Is your focus on these subjects just because you live there, or is this a deliberate undertaking to show a side of the state that people may not be aware of?

Alex Matzke: I think a little of both. I came back deliberately to do work about Nebraska. But the study of it is a bit more fluid right now, going in a lot of different directions.

AM: Can you talk about some of those directions?

Alex Matzke: Going back to what I said earlier about the people here being an important factor, I’ve really taken an interest in the professional work I’m doing to highlight these people. The things we celebrate, our family relationships, I think although uniquely ours, they are universal themes. [As for] some other work I’m really excited about. about people my age, and creating beautiful images out of the gritty emerging adulthood.

AM: That’s actually a subject I’m becoming more interested in, could you elaborate on that?

Alex Matzke: I had an experience in the last year where I was asked to shoot a preliminary assignment for a small publication, because people are used to a more conservative style and they weren’t sure if my work would translate. I feel a generational gap growing, but I feel like images can transcend it. Just because the image was taken at a house party, does not lessen it’s beauty. And the grit I think adds to it’s story.

AM: Would that be your “Hotel Frank” images [seen above]?

Alex Matzke: That’s one of them. The publication was terrified of me after they saw that. hah.

AM: hahah Really?

Alex Matzke: Yeah, hilarious right? But it’s work I’m really proud of.

AM: Another set of images I’m curious about are the ones of the Nebraska state football team. Were these part of your pro work?

Alex Matzke: Those are from a shoot I did with a local company. I had a sideline pass and a huge lens. it was a really wonderful day.

AM: I’m not really interested in sports, and find most sports photography boring beyond belief, but those images were really interesting to me.

Alex Matzke: My sentiments exactly about sports. I hardly aimed that lens at the field. The story happening all around it was the most interesting part.

AM: So I think that’s about all the questions I have. Do you have anything exciting planned for the future?

Alex Matzke: I do! I’m working on starting grad school at the university of Nebraska. I think I could stand to improve my writing and get a little direction with my work about Nebraska. And I’m headed to Israel/Palestine at the end of October. I’m headed there with a peace-building organization, and I hope to continue my work about family relationships and common themes within the family unit. I think images have the power to highlight our similarities over our differences. If we let them.

AM: Oh man, tell me more about your I/P trip. What’s going to be on that itinerary?

Alex Matzke: The group I’m traveling with spends time in homes of Israeli and Palestinian families. My only objective is to document the trip, but I hope to get enough work with the families to build on a more long-term project.

AM: I think that about does it. thanks for agreeing to do this!

Alex Matzke: Thanks for highlighting my work! I’m pumped to be included.

See more of Alex Matzke’s amazing photographs on her Flickr stream, and also check her out on Tumblr.