2015 Matt Eich – “Family” Family Breathe Out the Darkness, Breathe in the Light: This work occupies a liminal space between truth and fiction. Memory is fragile; the moments are fleeting and have to be wrestled into a permanent state. Some images are about love, while others are about fear. Specifically fear of failure as an artist, or more pointedly, as a father. It will necessitate vulnerability and time for these images to become fully realized. There is a nameless shift occurring in my work. For nearly a decade I have wandered searching for answers to unanswerable questions about our nation. It is a joy to get lost, to meet a stranger, to wake up in a new place. This is because no matter where I go, it is with the knowledge that I will return to the root; where I was raised, and where my wife and children wait for me. In my peripatetic wandering I have worked in a style that is reflexive, compulsive and nearly subconscious. Sometimes this yields resonant results though often the images do not feel fully realized. They are somewhat careless. In this new work I apply a level of intentionality and control to the images that is usually absent. The title comes from something my wife will say to me as a breathing exercise. Like the act of making photographs, this phrase is a way to calm myself when life feels overwhelming, uncontrollable or without order. Madelyn in the light, Norfolk, Virginia, September 2014. Meira looking out the window, Norfolk, Virginia, 2015. Madelyn and Meira, Norfolk, Virginia, 2015. On the porch at daycare, Norfolk, Virginia, 2015. Madelyn embraces Meira, Norfolk, Virginia, 2015. Madelyn on a bike ride, Norfolk, Virginia, 2015. Sick Madelyn on the couch, Norfolk, Virginia, 2015. Folding into Melissa, Norfolk, Virginia, 2014. Melissa in the pool, Waynesboro, Virginia, 2014. Melissa in the light, Norfolk, Virginia, 2014. These images are copyright Matt Eich and are use here by permission. They may not be used elsewhere without permission.
