Matt Eich: We, the Free

September 28 – December 21, 2024

From 2006-2018, Matt Eich created a sprawling body of work titled We, the Free that documents the vastness of the American condition under late capitalism. Presented here for the first time is a distilled selection of works from the titular series, illuminating the complex psyche of a superpower in decline.

From a distinctly American perspective, Eich renders nuanced depictions of a land reckoning with political extremism, climate doom, and the erosion of our national social safety net. But amidst the tension and violence exists an undercurrent of hope, traces of tightly held myths, rituals, and traditions that evoke the ubiquitous question: have we reached a point of no return?

Matt Eich is a photographic essayist working on long-form projects related to memory, family, community, and the American condition. He is the author of five monographs of photography. Matt teaches at Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at the George Washington University, makes books under the imprint Little Oak.PRESS, and lives in Virginia.