Matthew cohn

actor, producer, photographer, visual artist

Matthew Cohn is a New York-based artist. He worked for over a decade as an actor, producer, and narrator, and brings a theatrical sensibility to his visual art, always considering two questions: how does the work change the audience? And how does the audience change the work? 

To that end, he operates under the belief that all art is collaborative: the photographer is not a lone genius, but one piece of the work. They collaborate with their models, but also with the viewer. In other words, the final artwork is not the print itself but the experience of viewing it. 

His current focus is on exploring ideas of artifice in modern life. What are the surfaces we present to other people? What is true, and what is performance? Can we successfully image anything real? 

He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (B.A.) and the Pratt Institute (MFA in Photography). He is the founder of Vox Theater, and the co-producer of VoxLab, an annual, weeklong performing art residency at Dartmouth College.