"I will never make an accidental photograph"

'But still, why masks? Well, “the idea of a person, a photograph, say, of a young girl with a title ‘Rose Taylor’ or the title ‘Rose’ or no title at all becomes an entirely different thing,” Meatyard once said. “ ‘Rose Taylor’ is a specific person, whether you know her nor not. ‘Rose’ is more generalized and could be one of many Roses—many people. No title, it could be anybody.” And in the same way, a mask “serves as non-personalizing a person.”
And why would someone want to do that? In an essay on Meatyard’s work, the critic James Rhem quotes one of his sitters, Mary Browning Johnson: “He said he felt like everyone was connected, and when you use the mask, you take away the differences.” '

Via: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Ralph-Eugene-Meatyard-The-Man-Behind-the-Masks.html#ixzz25dmmeeyO

Shows are over for the summer, but for more Ralph Eugene Meatyard, please see:
http://www.peterfreemaninc.com/exhibitions/ralph-eugene-meatyard/
http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/762.html