Matthew Leifheit is an American photographer, magazine editor, and professor based in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the Yale School of Art, Leifheit is Editor-in-Chief of MATTE Magazine, the journal of emerging photography he has published since 2010. Leifheit’s photographs have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Aperture, TIME, and Artforum, and have been exhibited internationally. His work has been supported by residencies at the Corporation of Yaddo and The Watermill Center, receiving grants from the New York State Cultural Council and the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies at Yale, where he was awarded the Richard Benson Prize in 2017. He is currently on faculty in the position of Critic at Yale.
Interview with Matthew Leifheit
In his own words, Leifheit shares the story behind this year’s edition, inspired by the late photographer George Platt Lynes, and reflects on the ways his art explores absence, queerness, and archival memory.
TAG: This year’s Limited Art Edition is such a striking piece — what do you hope collectors and supporters will feel when they bring it into their homes, and why is it important to you that proceeds benefit TAG’s work?
ML: The edition is a beautifully printed photogravure reproduction of a prop I made for a film about the late photographer George Platt Lyes in 2018. The print shows one page from Lynes’ private scrapbooks both front and back, and features the caption “Paul Cadmus, Fire Island, Sept. 1941” inscribed in Lynes’ handwriting. The page originally contained photographs of his’ friend the painter Paul Cadmus at the beach, but when the crumbling scrapbooks were collected by the Beinecke Library at Yale, all original photographs were removed for separate conservation, leaving behind the ghostly traces of Lynes’ hand.
I am happy for the proceeds of this print to benefit TAG because I am aligned with [TAG’s] mission of envisioning the end of the HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C (HCV) pandemics with the discovery, development, and worldwide dissemination of safe and effective diagnostics, preventives, and cures.
TAG: Your work often explores intimacy, community, and queerness — what inspired you most in creating this edition for TAG, and how does it connect to your broader body of work?
ML: I am interested in absences in queer archives and the reasons for these absences. So the gestural markings left by the removal of the photographs on these pages immediately appealed to me. Facsimile versions of the pages were made into costumes for the performance artists Jack Waters and Peter Cramer to wear in my 2018 film “Your Giorgio,” available here. The costumes were destroyed in the making of the film, and I have since been looking for a reason to reproduce some of these flayed open pages as fine prints.
TAG: Can you share something about the process of making this work — the techniques, materials, or choices — that you think will surprise or excite people seeing it for the first time?
ML: The print, made by Prints on Paper studio in Vermont, is very unusual. It is made using rare Japanese Kozo paper from the 1950s printed chine collé using a technique called “À la poupée” where the printed uses different colors of ink selectively on the printing place, to create the illusion of a full-color reproduction.
TAG: Before the program begins, guests will experience your video installation, The Gay Chorus: No Time at All in the space. How does that piece set the tone for the evening, and how does it connect with the Limited Edition print?
ML: I think they are different projects but loosely connected in their archival roots and their dramatization of absence.
From Matthew’s reflections, it’s clear that this edition is more than just a work of art — it’s an exploration of history, memory, and queer identity, created with extraordinary technical care. The result is a hauntingly beautiful print, made with rare Kozo paper and meticulous chine collé techniques, that brings forward both history and absence.
Just 40 editions have been produced, and every purchase directly supports TAG’s work.
Reserve your 2025 Limited Art Edition today by contributing at the $1,500 Artist level or higher and bring home a work that sparks conversation, honors queer history, and fuels the fight to end HIV, TB, and HCV for good.
Learn more and purchase here. George Platt Lynes Scrapbook Pages will be on display at this year’s Research in Action Awards, taking place on Monday, October 20.
Photo by Sam Clarke, courtesy of the New York City AIDS Memorial