Fig 1. Ralph Meatyard, 1970-72
Meatyard's photography, often untitled fig. 1, manipulates casual and basic compositions with the elevation of mask enticing the viewer in to the ambiguous narrative allowing the viewer to speculate. 'the text constitutes a parasitic message designed to connote the [photographic] image.' (Barthes, 1977, pp. 25) the lack of anchorage from text further adds an element of mystery and wonder, allowing the audience to decipher the narrative. Perhaps the untitled images are paramount to ensure his images stay ambiguous, '“Creative pictures must be felt in a similar way as one listens to music, emotionally, without expecting a story, information or facts.”' (Meatyard, n.d.) by photographing purely for aesthetic, similar to Friedlander, allows Meatyard to solely focus on the creativity for his composition as opposed to the communication of profoundly explore narrative.
Fig. 2- Untitled, Ralph Meatyard, 1960
Considering fig. 2, Meatyard focuses on the compositional elements of his imagery rather than the overriding premeditated narrative. Meatyard's use of rule of thirds in figure 2 generates large areas of relatively negative space framing the child the right hand corner, the negative spaces draws the viewer in to the subject for the main focal point to be examined. The subject in the photograph is quite clearly a child however, Meatyard juxtaposes the youthfulness of the child with a mask of an elderly man. The juxtaposition Meatyard formulates in the composition, may be inpreteted as a commentary on the societal pressures of youth being forced to age often through work or ideologies of boys needing to be 'men of the house'. Furthermore, the child is playing with a doll, however when combined with the elderly mask, this again could be a juxtaposition between social constructs of age. Alternatively, linking to societal pressures of 'man of the house' the juxtaposition could be exploring the ideas of being a family man, however, the distance between the subject and the doll additionally comments on the emotional removal for men which was paramount in the 1960s. Without the written word or titling of the piece, the ambiguity Meatyard creates hones in on his creativity with the audience in full control of the meaning behind the piece.
Meatyard emulates an ambiguous methodology, ‘With his keen eye for the rhythms of line, form, tone, and texture he regularly transformed the commonplace into images that are layered with meaning for the viewer to tease out’ (Welker, 2019)
Meatyard’s multifaceted piece creates ambiguity in narrative, allowing the viewer time to ponder and formulate their only relatability and engagement to the piece. To remove all personal connection from the photographs permitting the viewer to psychologically manipulate the piece.
Following Meatyard, the darker images from Cranium Captivity imitate the closest to my vision, however the rest of the series, have greater potential and opportunities to explore. Drawing influence, I would like to experiment with having an ambiguous concept to then consider the experimentation of mediums to impact the narrative rather than focusing of fictious scene formulated in my head as this will allow for possible photographic faux pas and creative mistakes to be made.
Reference List
The University of Kentucky Art Museum, 2019. Ralph Eugene Meatyard: A Master of Metaphor and Mystery. [online] Available at: <https://phmuseum.com/news/ralph-eugene-meatyard-a-master-of-metaphor-and-mystery> [Accessed 23 June 2022].
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