
A Sitting for Matthew
2015
In "A Sitting for Matthew" (2015), Paul Mpagi Sepuya positions the camera as both witness and participant in an intimate choreography between artist, subject, and studio space. The large-format archival pigment print, measuring 132.1 × 88.9 centimeters, draws the viewer into a carefully constructed scene where fabric, body, and reflected light fold together into something tender and unresolved. Sepuya's characteristic use of the studio as subject rather than neutral backdrop is fully evident here, with the physical environment becoming an active presence that shapes how Matthew is seen and how he chooses to present himself. The image belongs to a sustained body of work in which Sepuya interrogates photographic portraiture from the inside, questioning who controls the gaze and what contracts of trust and exposure govern the act of sitting for a picture. His practice is deeply informed by the traditions of queer image-making and by the legacies of photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Rotimi Fani-Kayode, yet his approach is less declarative and more durational, built on ongoing relationships with collaborators and friends. "A Sitting for Matthew" carries that intimacy at its core, making the viewer acutely aware of what it means to be allowed into a moment that is both constructed and genuinely felt. Available through Yancey Richardson Gallery in an edition of five, this signed print represents Sepuya's work at a pivotal point in his development before his practice attracted the major institutional recognition it now commands. Acquiring a work from this period offers collectors a rare opportunity to hold a significant example of contemporary photography that continues to shape critical conversations around representation, vulnerability, and the ethics of the photographic encounter.
- Medium
- Archival pigment print
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Yancey Richardson Gallery
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