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Father Louie: Photographs of Thomas Merton
Photographs of the influential Trappist monk are accompanied by his correspondence with the photographer and a brief look at their friendship
- GenresPhotography
96 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
18 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Eugene Meatyard
17 books7 followersMeatyard purchased his first camera in 1950 to photograph his son, Michael. He eventually found his way to the Lexington Camera club in 1954, and at the same time joined the Photographic Society of America. It was at the camera club that Meatyard met Van Deren Coke, an early influence behind much of Meatyard's work. He even exhibited work by Meatyard in an exhibition for the University entitled 'Creative Photography' 1956.
During the mid 1950s he would attend a series of summer workshops, run by Henry Holmes Smith and Minor White. Minor White in particular fostered Meatyard's interest in Zen Philosophy.
He continued to make work, usually in bursts during holidays, in his makeshift darkroom in his home, until his death in 1972. His approach was somewhat improvisational and very heavily influenced by the jazz music of the time.[1]
Ralph Eugene Meatyard's death in 1972, a week away from his 47th birthday, came at the height of the "photo boom", a period of growth and ferment in photography in the United States which paralleled the political and social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. It was a time of ambition, not reflection, a time for writing résumés, not thoughtful and inclusive histories; in the contest of reputation, dying in 1972 meant leaving the race early. It was left to friends and colleagues to complete an Aperture monograph on Meatyard and carry through with the publication of The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater (1974) which he had laid out and sequenced before his death.
While he lived Meatyard's work was shown and collected by major museums, published in important art magazines, and regarded by his peers as among the most original and disturbing imagery ever created with a camera. He exhibited with such well-known and diverse photographers as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Minor White, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Robert Frank, and Eikoh Hosoe. But by the late 1970s, his photographs seemed consigned to appear mainly in exhibitions of "southern" art. In the last decade, however, thanks in part to European critics, Meatyard's work has reemerged, and the depth of its genius and its contributions to photography have begun to be understood and appreciated. In a sense Meatyard suffered a fate common to artists who are very much of but also very far ahead of their time. Everything about his life and his art ran counter to the usual and expected patterns. He was an optician, happily married, a father of three, president of the Parent-Teacher Association, and coach of a boy's baseball team. He lived in Lexington, Kentucky, far from the urban centers most associated with serious art. His images had nothing to do with the gritty "street photography" of the east coast or the romantic view camera realism of the west coast. His best known images were populated with dolls and masks, with family, friends and neighbors pictured in abandoned buildings or in ordinary suburban backyards.
During the mid 1950s he would attend a series of summer workshops, run by Henry Holmes Smith and Minor White. Minor White in particular fostered Meatyard's interest in Zen Philosophy.
He continued to make work, usually in bursts during holidays, in his makeshift darkroom in his home, until his death in 1972. His approach was somewhat improvisational and very heavily influenced by the jazz music of the time.[1]
Ralph Eugene Meatyard's death in 1972, a week away from his 47th birthday, came at the height of the "photo boom", a period of growth and ferment in photography in the United States which paralleled the political and social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. It was a time of ambition, not reflection, a time for writing résumés, not thoughtful and inclusive histories; in the contest of reputation, dying in 1972 meant leaving the race early. It was left to friends and colleagues to complete an Aperture monograph on Meatyard and carry through with the publication of The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater (1974) which he had laid out and sequenced before his death.
While he lived Meatyard's work was shown and collected by major museums, published in important art magazines, and regarded by his peers as among the most original and disturbing imagery ever created with a camera. He exhibited with such well-known and diverse photographers as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Minor White, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Robert Frank, and Eikoh Hosoe. But by the late 1970s, his photographs seemed consigned to appear mainly in exhibitions of "southern" art. In the last decade, however, thanks in part to European critics, Meatyard's work has reemerged, and the depth of its genius and its contributions to photography have begun to be understood and appreciated. In a sense Meatyard suffered a fate common to artists who are very much of but also very far ahead of their time. Everything about his life and his art ran counter to the usual and expected patterns. He was an optician, happily married, a father of three, president of the Parent-Teacher Association, and coach of a boy's baseball team. He lived in Lexington, Kentucky, far from the urban centers most associated with serious art. His images had nothing to do with the gritty "street photography" of the east coast or the romantic view camera realism of the west coast. His best known images were populated with dolls and masks, with family, friends and neighbors pictured in abandoned buildings or in ordinary suburban backyards.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 8, 2014
This masterpiece of the PBWCFTPBWT (Paperback black and white coffee table photography book with text) can be absorbed in an hour or two, and is a true gem. Meatyard, optician and photographer from Normal, Illinois, takes a ride up to meet Merton in Kentucky. Guy Davenport, who kicks the book off with a great elegiac essay, is also there. They drink whiskey and walk around, taking pictures at abandoned barns, desks, windows, and fields.
I'm unsure if this is still in print, for fans of Merton, Davenport, concise writing and brilliant minimalist photography, this book is more than worth purchasing, or absorbing over an hour or two at the library, as I just did.
Although Merton is often remembered for Seven Story Mountain, I book I never got into, anyone interested in further reading wiil be blown away by Wisdom of the Desert, Emblems of a Season of Fury, and New Seeds of Contemplation.
Davenport is a name I have heard for years, and it'll be my task to now to look him up.
As for Meatyard, I am extremely interested in his work. He and Merton died tragically short deaths a couple of years after this photographs were taken. I believe Merton was assassinated, but that is neither here nor there.
In closing, I have never been able to answer the question 'Who I'd be in another life.' For better or bawdier, I've always felt pretty set in my flesh, that specific tasks in individualism and literature on Earth were to me alone to create. Yet, I have realized now, at last, if it would have been impossible to become myself, I would have suggested being Richard Meatyard, Meatyard I tell ye, hailing from Normal, Illinois.
Highly recommended for the casual fan, the newly interested, and the scholar as well. A perfect little book, the aesthetic culmination of some extraordinary minds.
Post-script:
Of particular hilarity is a passage of Joan Baez coming to visit Merton in 1967, as there were two rules, signs, up at the monastery: NO LADIES ALLOWED, NO WOMEN.
Merton escaped what I imagine particularly harsh punishment, demotion, or exile, by responded thusly:
"Father, is Saint Anthony had been able to drive downtown, I assure you we would have no elegiac Temptation to get worked up over," or something to that effect.
I'm unsure if this is still in print, for fans of Merton, Davenport, concise writing and brilliant minimalist photography, this book is more than worth purchasing, or absorbing over an hour or two at the library, as I just did.
Although Merton is often remembered for Seven Story Mountain, I book I never got into, anyone interested in further reading wiil be blown away by Wisdom of the Desert, Emblems of a Season of Fury, and New Seeds of Contemplation.
Davenport is a name I have heard for years, and it'll be my task to now to look him up.
As for Meatyard, I am extremely interested in his work. He and Merton died tragically short deaths a couple of years after this photographs were taken. I believe Merton was assassinated, but that is neither here nor there.
In closing, I have never been able to answer the question 'Who I'd be in another life.' For better or bawdier, I've always felt pretty set in my flesh, that specific tasks in individualism and literature on Earth were to me alone to create. Yet, I have realized now, at last, if it would have been impossible to become myself, I would have suggested being Richard Meatyard, Meatyard I tell ye, hailing from Normal, Illinois.
Highly recommended for the casual fan, the newly interested, and the scholar as well. A perfect little book, the aesthetic culmination of some extraordinary minds.
Post-script:
Of particular hilarity is a passage of Joan Baez coming to visit Merton in 1967, as there were two rules, signs, up at the monastery: NO LADIES ALLOWED, NO WOMEN.
Merton escaped what I imagine particularly harsh punishment, demotion, or exile, by responded thusly:
"Father, is Saint Anthony had been able to drive downtown, I assure you we would have no elegiac Temptation to get worked up over," or something to that effect.
Displaying 1 of 1 review