Matt Eich

Bio

Matt Eich is a photographic essayist who creates long-form photobook works related to memory, family, community, and the American condition. He is the author of five books of photographs. Eich’s work has been exhibited in more than 30 solo shows and more than 100 group exhibitions and festivals. His prints are held in public collections including the Chrysler Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Portland Art Museum and others.

Matt’s projects have received support from an Aaron Siskind Fellowship, two Getty Images Grants, two VMFA Professional Fellowships and an Aperture/Google Creators Lab Photo Fund Grant. He was an artist in residence at Light Work in 2013, at a Robert Rauschenberg Residency in 2019 and at the Virginia Center for Contemporary Art and Prairie House in 2026. The Special Collections Library at the National Gallery of Art holds his books and maquettes. Eich is an Associate Professor at Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at the George Washington University, is the publisher of the independent imprint Little Oak.PRESS and resides in Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife, two daughters, two cats and a dog.

Current Research & Exhibitionsx

Long-form photobook works related to memory, family, community, and the American condition. 

Recent exhibitions include:

2018 I Love You, I’m Leaving, Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill, NC (solo)
2018 Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town, jdc Fine Art, San Diego, CA (solo)
2018 I Love You, I’m Leaving, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR (solo)
2018 Record/Off Record, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY (group)
2018 Southbound: photographs of and about the New South, Halsey Institute, Charleston, SC (group)
2018 A Contemporary Reference of the Human Condition, Edition One Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (group)
2018 Carry Me Ohio, PhotoEast, Suffolk, United Kingdom (group)
2018 The National: Best of Contemporary Photography, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (group)

Distinctions

• (2026) PhotoNOLA Photobook Grand Prize
• (2024) Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Professional Visual Arts Fellowship
• (2022) Magnum Foundation x The Atlantic, Health Equity Grant
• (2021) Aperture / Google Creator Labs Photo Fund
• (2019) Rauschenberg Residency
• (2017) VMFA Professional Visual Arts Fellowship
• (2015) Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography
• (2013) Light Work, Artist in Residence
• (2013) Art Director's Club, Young Guns 11
• (2013) Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography
• (2012) The Oxford American, New Superstar of Southern Art
• (2011) Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer Fellowship
• (2010) PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch
• (2009) World Press Photo, Joop Swart Masterclass
• (2008) Alexia Foundation Student Grant
• (2006) College Photographer of the Year, Gold Portfolio

Publications

Matt is the author of five books of photography, Carry Me Ohio (Sturm & Drang, 2016), I Love You, I'm Leaving (Ceiba Editions, 2017), Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town (Sturm & Drang, 2018), The Seven Cities (Sturm & Drang, 2020) and We, the Free (Sturm & Drang, 2024). He has a forthcoming book scheduled with Deadbeat Club and is currently working on multiple book projects.

Additionally, Matt has been published in, or created commissioned work for:

• AARP
• Al Jazeera America
• Bloomberg BusinessWeek
• BuzzFeed
• CNN
• Esquire
• The FADER
• FT Magazine
• GEO
• GQ
• The Guardian
• Harper's
• Mother Jones
• National Geographic
• Newsweek
• The New Yorker
• The New York Times Magazine
• Rolling Stone
• Smithsonian
• TIME
• Vanity Fair
• Virginia Magazine
• The Wall Street Journal
• WIRED
• ZEITmagazin

Education

BS in Photojournalism, Ohio University
MFA in Photography, Hartford Art School, International Limited-Residency Program

Professional Organizations

• National Press Photographer's Association (NPPA)
• Society for Photographic Education (SPE)

Photo credit: Mark Poucher