Over the past 13 years, I’ve been drawn to places where history is unfolding. I especially wanted to photograph what happens when states and citizens come into conflict. The starting point has always been to show up. I don’t work with assistants, fixers or drivers. I don’t seek special access or embedded arrangements. I spend a lot of time wandering alone.
I originally thought of these pictures as belonging to separate projects defined by their geography — Ukraine, Hong Kong, North Korea, Cuba, Egypt, the United States, among other places. But the more photographs I took, the more they resisted that kind of organization. I became more interested in what these scenes had in common.
I spent time in democracy movements that were violently suppressed, revolutions that succeeded in overthrowing governments, street protests that channeled the energy of thousands. The photographs began to form a kind of record of collective assembly, social upheaval, totalitarian control, surveillance, oppression and outright war. All different registers of the same fundamental struggle: life in a global era increasingly shaped by confrontations with authoritarian power.
Some photographs are reminders of setbacks. But others suggest a path forward: one fueled by anger, yes, but also by solidarity and hope.
Matthew Connors is an artist and photography professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. These photographs come from his forthcoming monograph “The Axe Will Survive the Master” (2026), via SPBH Editions/MACK.
