This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 1900 items |
Abstract | The Matthew Leavitt Photographs consist of images taken by photographer, Matthew Leavitt, depicting scenes from several protests, marches, and rallies on women's rights, gun control, immigration, and science, held in Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, N.C., between February 2017 and March 2018. Events depicted in the collection include the "No Ban, No Wall, Rally," "Women's Rally," "Womens March," "March for Science," and "March For Our Lives." |
Creator | Leavitt, Matthew, 1947- |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Stephen Fletcher and Patrick Cullom, September-October 2018
Encoded by: Patrick Cullom, October 2018
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine ethnic identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual’s preference for ethnicity to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@email.unc.edu.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Matthew Leavitt provided the following biographical information* in October 2018:
Matthew Leavitt was born in New York City in 1947. He attended Boston University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism with a minor in photojournalism in 1970. He worked in New York in survey research for many years specializing in predictive analysis in the political arena and statistical research in the social sciences. Leavitt moved to rural Maine, where neither work field was possible, and became a computer store owner until the viability of small independent stores disappeared. He moved to North Carolina and Fearrington Village, circa 2009, one of the luckiest, most unplanned decisions in his life.
Leavitt has always been interested in photography, but had become something of a vacation snapshot shooter until the advent, in the early 2000s, of digital photography. The ease with which his computer skills dovetailed with using a digital camera rekindled his love. He has been out taking pictures of eagles, ospreys, herons, hummingbirds (and almost any other kind of bird), butterflies, bees, dragonflies, otters, lizards and reptiles, flowers, landscapes and people ever since. The Women's March in Raleigh in January of 2017 was inspirational for him and he has photographed eight of the subsequent marches, demonstrations and rallies in the triangle. Leavitt has focused on the faces of the participants and the fascinating signs that they carried. He often intentionally used a cellphone camera rather than a digital single lens reflex camera in order to blend into the crowd.
Leavitt is a co-founder of the Fearrington Photography Group, and a member of the Chatham Artists Guild and the Artist Studios at Fearrington Village. He is also a charter member of the Galloway Ridge Artists Collaboration. Leavitt was the featured artist at the Carrboro Art Center "Saving the Pollinators" exhibit 2017 and he had a one-person exhibition of photographs at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences titled "Birds and Butterflies" during the summer of 2018.
*Matthew Leavitt's original text was lightly edited to conform with the style guide in use.
Back to TopThe Matthew Leavitt Photographs consist of images taken by photographer, Matthew Leavitt, depicting scenes from several protests, marches, and rallies on women's rights, gun control, immigration, and science, held in Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, N.C., between February 2017 and March 2018. Events depicted in the collection include the "No Ban, No Wall, Rally," "Women's Rally," "Womens March," "March for Science," and "March For Our Lives."
Back to TopArrangment: Chronological
Processing Note: Titles were derived from original folder names and structure. Some folders may have sub-folders labeled "Better" and/or "Best" that indicate images selected by photographer.
Digital Folder DF-P0113/01 |
No Wall, No Ban, No Fear Rally, Raleigh N.C., 5 February 2017Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/02 |
Moral March, Raleigh, N.C., 11 February 2017Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/03 |
Resistance Rodeo, Durham, N.C., 4 March 2017Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/08 |
March For Our Lives, Raleigh, N.C., 24 March 2017Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/04 |
March for Science, Raleigh, N.C., 22 April 2017Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/05 |
March for Truth, Raleigh, N.C., 3 June 2017Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/06 |
Women's Rally, Raleigh, N.C., 20 January 2018Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/07 |
Women's March, Raleigh, N.C., 21 January 2018Digital Image Files |
Digital Folder DF-P0113/09 |
UNC Rally For Our Lives, Chapel Hill, N.C., 29 March 2018Digital Image Files |