Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
8-2017
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Fine Arts
Degree Program
Art (Creative) and Art History with a concentration in Critical and Curatorial Studies, MA
Committee Chair
Reitz, Chris
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Kim, Jongwoo Jeremy
Committee Member
Kim, Jongwoo Jeremy
Committee Member
Sholis, Brian
Author's Keywords
Ralph Eugene Meatyard; photography; family; the uncanny; Sigmund Freud; Pierre Bourdieu
Abstract
This thesis explores the ways in which photographs by Ralph Eugene Meatyard provoke the uncanny—or Das unheimlich as Freud originally wrote in 1919—by breaking from conventions of mid-twentieth century family photography often utilized to establish and maintain genealogical unity. Meatyard’s photographs of his family and friends are accentuated by blurring techniques, prolonged exposures, and the incorporation of dime-store masks, and as a result depict moments when reality is disrupted by the return of repressed material from childhood. For a multitude of reasons, Meatyard’s photographs elicit comparisons to Surrealist photography as well as certain American modernists who also explored the notion of identity, such as Duane Michals, Van Deren Coke, and Minor White. Although he rarely left his home of Lexington, Kentucky, Meatyard was aware of the camera’s widespread use to produce and retain social myths. His photographs unveil these myths by incorporating elements that align with psychoanalytic theory.
Recommended Citation
Kissel, Hunter Martin, "Traces of the (un)familiar : family, identity, and the return of the repressed in the photographs of Ralph Eugene Meatyard." (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2807.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2807
