RALPH EUGENE MEATYARD 1925 1972 PHOTOGRAPHER RALPH EUGENE

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.

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