We're deeply saddened to report the death, from cancer, of  Seven Days' longtime beloved staff photographer Matthew Thorsen. Though expected, his passing — on New Year's Day 2019 — is nonetheless devastating to us all.

Matt had been taking pictures for Seven Days from the paper's beginning in 1995. His quirky personality fit in with our scrappy startup, and his idiosyncratic vision defined the look of the paper for many years. We all particularly loved — still love — his black-and-white portraiture with distinctive black borders.

Over time the paper grew, technology altered the media landscape and photography switched to digital. Matt took the changes in stride, mastering new camera equipment along with the challenges and opportunities of full color.

Matt captured an enormous and perhaps representative cross-section of Vermonters, from politicians to skateboarders, from dairy farmers to punk rockers. He shot friends and family, too, constantly. Basically, the camera was an extension of his body; it seemed to be Matt's way of communicating, and communing, with the world.

Look for a more extensive remembrance of Matt in the January 9 issue of Seven Days. Meantime, you can watch, or re-watch, Eva Sollberger's remarkable Stuck in Vermont video, made last October, of a conversation with Matt about living and dying. Sollberger produced another video about Thorsen's "Sound Proof" band photo exhibit in 2011. You can also view the images in "Thorever," a selected retrospective last summer of Matt's photos at the BCA Center, here.

Please feel free to leave comments on this post about Matt, or email them to pamela@sevendaysvt.com.