Fotograf Magazine

Matthew Monteith first came to the Czech Republic in 1991, like thousands of other American tourists who discovered the magic of Eastern Europe, still saturated with the spirit of totalitarianism at the beginning of the 1990s. He worked on his first solo documentary project about Ústí nad Labem. In 1994–1995, he completed a training programme at the International Center of Photography, where he stayed on teaching colour photography. In 1996 he returned to the Czech Republic for a longer period; he composed his first book, Uncertain History, from his own photographs as well as from photographs found in family archives and in second-hand bookstores. From 1997 on, he has worked as an assistant to the photographer Mitch Epstein, helping with his commercial and artwork.