International and Contemporary | Modern British/Post War | Photography | Archive | Index
Jenny MatthewsJenny Matthews (b. 1948) is a documentary photographer and filmmaker working on issues of dispossession and human rights with a particular emphasis on the lives of women and girls. She has worked all over the world covering momentous historical events including the guerrilla war and independence of Eritrea, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the genocide in Rwanda. Her book Women and War, chronicling 20 years of women worldwide affected by conflict was published in 2003 and the images exhibited widely.
Her exhibition, Jenny Matthews – Sewing Conflict: Photography, War and Embroidery was held in Glasgow in 2024, and her sewn quilt using her own photographs of the Miners’ Strike, commissioned by the Martin Parr Foundation, was exhibited with in their exhibition One Year! Photographs from the Miners’ Strike 1984/85 in 2024.
In her series, Afghanistan: Facial De-Recognition, Matthews revisited her photographs of Afghan women after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again. Writer and photo historian, Max Houghton, has described how 'Matthews has been a collector of women’s stories for over four decades, which she has recorded via the camera… Her encounters – from Nicaragua to Afghanistan to Palestine – have frequently taken place during conflict, or in its aftermath, and in this way, she has become a vital witness to the devastating and long-lasting effects of contemporary war on women.’
Photography
31 x 23 cm
Photograph printed on cotton/linen with added embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.
33 x 23 cm
Photograph from late 1980s printed on linen with embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.
32 x 22.5 cm
Photograph from late 1980s printed on linen with embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.
31 x 23 cm
Photograph from late 1980s printed on linen with embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.
Facial De-recognition series
Photo printed on cotton/linen with added embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.
31 x 23 cm
Photo printed on cotton/linen with added embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.
33.5 x 23 cm
Photograph from late 1980s printed on linen with embroidery.
From a series of 5 unique embroidered photographs.