Eric Demattos is North Idaho College’s new photography instructor. Eric has been teaching for the past 10 years, first at the University of Idaho then later at Columbia Basin College.
Dematto’s passion is photography. He is excited to produce something you can’t see with the naked eye. Having the power with the camera to stop time, frozen like a superhero power!
Photography wasn’t always his passion, he was a premed student then he took a ceramics class. He started taking other art classes and it changed his course. Just like that. You never know what’s going to happen!
Demattos believes in hands on learning. In his intro to photograph class his students went outside in the frigid cold to throw boiling water in the air. The hot water turns to steam immediately. The class was working on a shutter speed assignment learning to freeze motion.
Demattos has a vision of connecting with other art classes at NIC to expand artistic expression and unity, whether it be theatre, sculptures, drawings, ceramics, dance, music, or paintings. If a photography student took a photograph of a sculpture, the sculptor could see it in a different perspective, changing perspective is powerful. Like a super power. Photography could be a tool in the art discipline to connect perspective with synergy.
Right now, artistic classes are so segmented. Demattos hopes to unite and network with all of them. He would like to open the studio to other art students and have his students visit other class studios. Building bridges. Mixing of ideas. Dissolving segments.
He told a story about a photograph he took of an old house in Uniontown. There was a farmer who was told he needed to vacate because he was 4 feet over the easement for a new highway. The old stubborn farmer got his saw out and cut 4 feet off his house. The planning department saw that he met the criteria, so he got to stay.
Generations passed and the house is no longer there. Demattos shot this house in different season. He says it’s like a person, you have to spend time to get to know them. The subject matter builds character the more the photographer connects with it. The lens sees what we cannot always see with the naked eye. To tease the story out, get to know it, different lights, seasons, and capturing changes. Once the photographer gets to know the subject, they can create a photo that conveys it’s character.
Taking a photo and bringing it into a story, uniting the arts, and freezing time are amazing superpowers that Demattos wants to share with every student that walks through his classroom door.
