RALPH EUGENE MEATYARD
1925-1972
PHOTOGRAPHER RALPH EUGENE MEATYARD, SHOWN HERE IN
EITHER 1965 OR 1966, PERSUADED FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO DON A
MASK AND POSE IN FRONT OF HIS CAMERA.
MUCH IS WRITTEN ABOUT THE BIOGRAPHY OF RALPH EUGENE MEATYARD. A
NAVY MAN, BORN IN ILLINOIS, HE ATTENDED WILLIAMS COLLEGE THROUGH
THE NAVY’S V-12 PROGRAM. HE BECAME A LICENSED OPTICIAN AND LIVED
MOST OF HIS LIFE IN LEXINGTON, KY. IN 1950, BEFORE HIS FIRST CHILD WAS
BORN, HE MADE A LIFE CHANGING DECISION: HE BOUGHT A CAMERA.
RALPH EUGENE MEATYARD: THE MAN
BEHIND THE MASKS
MEATYARD SAID THAT MASKS ERASED THE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN PEOPLE. HE PHOTOGRAPHED HIS FAMILY,
SHOWN HERE, IN 1962
"I FEEL THAT 'MORE REAL THAN REAL' IS THE
SPECIAL PROVINCE OF THE SERIOUS
PHOTOGRAPHER," MEATYARD WROTE IN 1961.
PICTURED IS CHILD AS A BIRD, C. 1960.
EVERY SUBJECT IN MEATYARD’S PHOTOS ARE CHALLENGING THE LENS OF THE
CAMERA. ACTIVELY STANDING UP TO ANY AMOUNT OF OBJECTIFYING GAZE,
DEFORMED BUT CONFIDENT, THESE SUBJECTS GO EYEBALL TO EYEBALL WITH US.
EVEN THE YOUNGEST AND PRESUMABLY MOST INNOCENT OF THESE SUBJECTS
STANDS FACING US, BOLDLY ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS HIS FATHER WAS ASKING.
THE NATURAL, FLEETING POSES OF HIS CHILDREN FRACTURE AGAINST THE
PONDEROUS OLD MAN MASKS AND OVERSIZED HANDS IN WHICH THEY ARE
POSING. THEIR BODIES STAND OUT AGAINST THE STARK AND WORN NATURALLY
LIT BACKGROUNDS THAT OFTEN CONTAIN THICK, UNLIT DARKNESS.
MANY OF HIS IMAGES VIOLATE WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE, BUT HE
NEVER INTENDED TO PHOTOGRAPH WHAT WAS THERE. HE WAS
UNINTERESTED IN MERE OPTICAL FACTS OR CREATING REASSURING
IMAGES. INSTEAD, HE WANTED TO CREATE ANEW A UNIVERSAL SUBJECT
THAT STOOD FOR SOMETHING.
THE END
George Eastman House
smithsonianmag.com-The-Man-Behind-the-Masks
https://www.google.com
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