Ralph Eugene Meatyard

Ralph Eugene was a very interesting cat, I'm thinking.  He was born in 1925 in Normal, Illinois and moved to Lexington, Kentucky in the 50s after he got married.  He was an optician.  The company he worked for made camera lenses as well so he fell into photography.  He wound up showing with and being collected by major museums and players in the art world.  His photographs use his family members wearing masks and carnival heads and positions in broke down environments.  He took photos of them when they were moving about in these environments and achieved ghostly effects.  He seems to have been entirely self taught and an artist who followed his own bent and found his influences and inspirations where he may.