Ralph Eugene Meatyard’s work is very inspiring for my
current project. I’m very interested in his use of masks, as I am using masks
in my work, and what they represent within his images. He experimented with
multiple exposures, motion blur, and other methods of photographic abstraction
and most of his images include family members enacting symbolic dramas, often
set in abandoned places.
His haunting images are often constructed in a ‘family
photo’ kind of approach. Contrasts that
are very effective, and make you question the photographs implication. A mask
is often used to become someone else, and to hide your true identity. What I
found most noticeable was the mask that was chosen for the image. This mask has
a very aged face, in contrast to the young subject. It makes me question if the
image was that much fabricated that the photographer chose this particular mask
to create that contrast, or the child choose it. But why would the child choose
this particular mask? The image seems to be quite accidental, in the sense that
the subject appears to have been playing with their doll and mask carelessly,
but these images were constructed. I find it fascinating that the body language
actually matches the age of the face. The subject appears to be very limp and weak.
Ignoring the fact that there is a child under the mask, it almost seems as
though the ‘character’, the mask, is reliving and reminiscing it’s childhood
days, and being young again. To me, the contrast seems to be representing the
negatives that do occur in childhood, but are never acknowledged. Ageing, decay
and death.
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| 'Dolls and Masks' |
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