There’s a place where two roads meet in Mineral, Ohio. At the intersection sits an old church connected to a food pantry. If you follow the wood-paneled walls to the front, above the pulpit hangs a sign that says, “Come Expecting.” I never come expecting much, but find that magic exists everywhere here. The rolling hills become your church; weed and whiskey are your sacrament, the savior is whatever/whomever can take you out of this broken place. The worship song is some twangy country tune or “Oxycontin” by Lil Wyte. You pray for the past boom to return, with little thought of the busted present or the unknowable future. What future can be expected from a life here? 

Mining corporations stripped Appalachia of its resources from the 1820s to the 1960s. After taking all that they could, the corporations departed, leaving former boomtowns with little but their cultural identity. When you think of Ohio, stereotypes of Appalachian poverty may spring to mind. For the past ten years, I have made pictures of the people of this region as they attempt to recover in the aftermath of extractive industry. What I have discovered transcends any stereotype – despite circumstances, these proud Americans persevere and cling to family, community, and land with an admirable tenacity. 

This place is a microcosm of a story that plays out around our country and around the world. History repeats itself. Our collective memory favors the convenience of amnesia over acknowledging the damage that we continue to inflict upon ourselves. Photography is the antidote. This collection of images is my love song to Ohio. 

— Matt Eich, Charlottesville, Virginia, June, 2016

Matt Eich - Carry Me Ohio (the invisible yoke vol. I)

first edition of 600 books

120 pages
24.5 cm x 25 cm
hardcover, linen printed and embossed with 16 page insert "spitting in the devil's eye"
Sturm & Drang publishers 2016
ISBN 978-3-906822-02-0

selected press:

2016, The New Yorker, Photo Booth, “I Feel Forgotten: A Decade of Struggle In Rural Ohio” by Kate Linthicum

2016, Photo District News, Photo Of The Day, “Matt Eich’s Ohio Love Song”

2016, CNN, “Finding Family in A ‘Brokenhearted’ Appalachian Town” by Hailey Middlebrook

2016, FeatureShoot, “One Photographer’s Haunting Love Song to Appalachia” by Ellyn Ruddick-Sunstein

2016, Tages-Anzeiger, “The Last Exit to Ohio” interview with Lea Koch

2016, Medium.com, “I spent 10 years photographing Appalachia”