A photography graduate from Coventry University has been invited to exhibit his work at a gallery in Berkshire.

Matt Johnston, from Harpenden, Hertfordshire, is a freelance documentary photographer working both in the UK and the USA. He received a first class honours in 2008 having studied under two internationally renowned photographers Jonathan Shaw and Jonathan Worth – both lecturers at the University.

Since graduating, Matt has taken on various large scale documentary projects including one in New York

Matt’s exhibition takes place at the Rhubarb and Custard Gallery, Eton, Berkshire from 1 – 31 October and features work from one of his other projects based in West Texas.

The exhibition looks at how the “American Dream” has influenced the genres of film and photography and it is a subject that Matt is particularly interested in having written extensively on the subject.

His previous exhibitions include the Drummond Street Gallery and the Phoenix Media Festival (where he won 'best photographer 2008). More recently Matt was chosen to document the ex-residents from a 1970's commune for a Channel 4 programme.

Matt worked with medium and large format cameras on both print and slide film for all of the images that are used in the exhibition. He said:

“Working in this format helps to slow me down and think more about what I am trying to portray with the image. It also means that I rarely take more than one shot of a subject so it feels to me like a more realistic moment has been captured.”

The exhibition runs from 1 - 31 October at the Rhubarb and Custard Gallery at 4, High Street, Eton, Berkshire and is open Monday – Saturday, 11am – 4.30pm.

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