Matthew Gamber is 32 and has digitized nearly 20,000 pages.

MOSSLESS: Did you ever have discussions with that colorblind student you were teaching color theory? It sounds like a really interesting scenario.
MATTHEW GAMBER: This particular student was concerned he would not succeed in the class. As he worked more in the darkroom, he began to identify individual colors as specific types of gray. By the end of the term, he could correct his color prints in terms of value and contrast. Most of us see color as a unified property, whereas he saw color as series of broken elements. He didn’t need to do the class exercises to understand color theory–he was living it.

ML: Please clarify this for me - in This Is (Still) The Golden Age you’re making photograms of what’s on the telly?
MB: The image is a direct transfer of the light radiating from a television’s cathode ray tube. By pressing the paper directly against the glass, you can collect the traces of light that remain when a television is turned off. What remains is an artifact formed by an illusion.

ML: Your series of chalkboards contemplates the idea of blank slates. Since chalkboards are rarely truly clean (as especially can be seen in your photos), what does this mean in terms of our lives?
MG: These slate chalkboards are products of our industrial heritage. These large objects are near the end of their utility, and the photographs are a record of their accumulated use. Paradoxically, a chalkboard can never embody the idea of a “blank slate,” as it inherently symbolizes the intention of the language that is to be written on it. In this sense, an empty chalkboard is forever imaginary. A useful chalkboard has no history; a used chalkboard is history.

ML: What’s the most interesting interview you’ve had on Big RED & Shiny?  
MG: The most interesting interview for me was with Ken Feingold, an artist that creates sculptural installations using animatronic, ventriloquist-styled dummies. Some of his sculptures are based on his own likeness, and it was an uncanny experience to sit with him in person. His work is excellent, but this impression made the interview absolutely memorable.