Instance
Matthew Thompson

Instance explores the subjective nature of perception and the consequence of our judgements. The project explores the concept of a momentary truth which ‘tests, constructs and confirms a total view of reality’.
(Berger, Understanding a Photograph, 1968)

Deliberate references to classical culture highlight the continual remaking of history and question the authority of the “definitive” memory. In observing the role history plays in our understanding of self, we witness the relationship between time’s layering and the conditioned nature of our own perception.

Matthew Thompson is an Irish photographer and film maker. He currently is exhibiting a series of Poetry Speaks films in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. May-August 21. His portrait of Andrew Hozier-Byrne was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Award 2020. In 2015 his film collaboration with Broadstone Films ‘New Horizons’ represented Ireland in the Architectural Biennale, Shenzhen, China. Commissioning clients include Philips, Saatchi & Saatchi Pro, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Bielke & Yang, Socio Design, Made Thought, Monocle, Wired (Japan), Condé Nast, Time-Warner, Cara, and EMI.

His personal work primarily concentrates on how conditioning influences perception and has exhibited in New York, Paris, London, Shenzhen, Helsinki, Belfast  & Dublin.

Matthew holds a Masters of Fine Art Photography from the University of Ulster, Belfast and a Bachelor of Design Degree from The National College of Art & Design, Dublin.¹