Matt Eich, a photographic essayist and Ohio University alumnus, will bring some of his work back to the place it all began.
From Jan. 16 to Jan. 31, The School of Visual Communication Gallery will host a selection of Matt Eich’s pictures from his book Carry Me Ohio in Schoonover 140. Matt Eich attempts to show an accurate depiction of rural life for southeastern Ohio through his photographs. The exhibit will have pictures from Ohio areas including Chauncey, Nelsonville, Glouster, Athens, Hocking Hills and Vinton County. Eich’s work mainly focuses on the people residing in these regions.
He began taking nature pictures as a kid but found that it was not fulfilling, Eich said, and he was reserved which made it difficult to capture good images of his subjects.
Marcy Nighswander, a professor of visual communication, said she taught Eich when he was a freshman. He was an “outstanding” student and “did more than what was expected.”
“Students saw his creativity and ability as a photojournalist,” Nighswander said.
Stan Alost, an associate professor of visual communication, said he knew Eich throughout his time at OU. They were able to have the most interaction during the senior capstone course, Alost said. Eich began working on a few the photographs that would later become Carry Me Ohio in that class.
In Carry Me Ohio, Matt showed different neighborhoods and the family values their residents held, Nighswander said.
For one of the projects for the senior course, Alost said, Eich did some work with a family in Chauncey. He photographed their two girls who are deaf.
His book is a photographic essay that he has been working on for about 10 years, Eich said.
“(There were) little stories that I was making,” Eich said. “(and they) added up to something bigger than I had expected.”
“His empathy for people and his non judgemental approach ... allowed him to connect with people and get into communities and into people’s lives in ways that not a lot of people are able to pull off,” Alost said.
Nighswander said Eich reached out to her after the book’s release about being featured in the exhibit.
“I look at it as the exhibit and his presentation as coming full circle,” Nighswander said, “He was a great student here; he’s gone out and had a great (career); and he continues to want to give back to the profession and the students.”
Alost said Eich’s “visual voice” and his understanding of the cultures and people’s stories has improved over the years.
“It’s important to me to try and bring the work back to where it was made,” Eich said.
