Ralph Eugene Meatyard
| Ralph Eugene Meatyard | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 15, 1925 Normal, Illinois |
| Died | May 7, 1972 (aged 46) Lexington, Kentucky |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Photography |
Ralph Eugene Meatyard (May 15, 1925 – May 7, 1972) was an American photographer, from Normal, Illinois.
Meatyard was born in Norman, Illinois and raised in the nearby town of Bloomington, Illinois. When he turned 18 during World War II, he joined the Navy. The war ended before he received any overseas assignments. After being mustered out, he briefly studied Pre-Dentistry, then turned his studies to becoming an optician.
After his marriage, he and Madelyn moved to Lexington, Kentucky, to continue his trade as an optician, working for Tinder-Krausse-Tinder, a company that also sold photographic equipment. The owners of the company were active members of the Lexington Camera Club, for which the Art Department of the University of Kentucky provided exhibition space.
Meatyard purchased his first camera in 1950 to photograph his newborn first child, and worked primarily with a Rolleiflex medium-format camera ever afterwards. He eventually found his way to the Lexington Camera club in 1954, and at the same time joined the Photographic Society of America. It was at the Lexington Camera Club that Meatyard met Van Deren Coke, an early influence behind much of his work. Coke exhibited work by Meatyard in an exhibition for the university entitled "Creative Photography" in 1956.
During the mid-1950s, Meatyard attended a series of summer workshops run by Henry Holmes Smith at Indiana University and also with Minor White. White, in particular, fostered Meatyard's interest in Zen Philosophy.
An autodidact and voracious reader (it was said that he read books while driving), Meatyard made work in productive bursts, often leaving his film undeveloped for long stretches, then working feverishly in the makeshift darkroom in his home. "His approach was somewhat improvisational and very heavily influenced by the jazz music of the time." Using his children as props to explore what could be called his prime subject, Meatyard addressed the surreal "masks" of identity and the ephemeral nature of surface matter.
...
Wikipedia