Artist of the Week (pt III)

Ralph Eugene Meatyard

I was fortunate enough to have stumbled onto Meatyard at my college library's gallery. Most people wouldn't know it, but UMBC's Albin O. Kuhn Library, housed a giant collection of photographs and photographic books accessible to students like myself. People from all over would come to our campus to peruse special collections. What a great area, not mention, this was one of my favorite places to hang out in between classes.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard, if I remember correctly, worked as an optician and photographed on the side (strangely where I see my life going). He often photographed his family where he lived in Lexington, Kentucky. What attracted me to Meatyard's work would very obviously be his creep factor. The first photographs I saw were of his family members staged in open fields and other abandoned locations sporting Halloween masks! HI AMAZING! They are playful and intriguing. I am sure his photos were not meant to creep anyone out. He was probably just having a little fun with some Halloween masks.