About this artwork
While other, more documentary-minded photographers in the postwar era attempted to capture a slice of the world as it whizzed by in front of their cameras, the Kentucky optician Ralph Eugene Meatyard joined a growing group of artists who preferred to create their own realities. His pictures were deliberate and directed; as he wrote in 1961, “I will never make an accidental photograph!” In his staged images, decaying houses served as scenery, dolls and masks as props, and his own family as actors. Here Meatyard’s oldest son, Michael, peers through the panes of a half-open door; two dolls, positioned more like sentries than toys, stand guard.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- Ralph Eugene Meatyard
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Title
- Untitled
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 1961
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Medium
- Gelatin silver print
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Dimensions
- Image/paper: 16.5 × 17.6 cm (6 1/2 × 6 15/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Christopher and Diane Meatyard
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Reference Number
- 2011.357
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Copyright
- © The Estate of Ralph Eugene Meatyard.
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
