1.

Surreal, 1959

This photograph has some of the Meatyard style of disfigured masks hanging on a

spiked gate, as well as dolls and doll heads, as well as a mannequin head. There is also

a person of unknown gender with an old lady mask holding their right hand out on the

left, and with their head peeking out the right of a pillar with a couple of doll heads on it.

The second person is standing shirtless on the right, with a wig on, facing to the left and

to the back. It is clear there is a guy, but we can’t see their face. The whole picture is

very dark, set with a lot of dark grass and bushes, so dark I didn’t even know the person

with the hand and old lady mask was an actual person. I thought the hand and the mask

were hanging on something. And I didn’t even know the wig was on another person.

Perhaps Meatyard did that purposefully, so that the dark shrubbery and the people

blended in with the scenery, and the lighter masks and dolls stood at more as the focus
of the piece. All the dolls and masks are across the middle of the photograph, which

draws the focus there. The scenery behind these masks and dolls are some of the

darkest in the photograph, so they allow the masks and the dolls to stand out the most.

The rest of the scenery lightens up towards the outwards of the picture, just not too

much though. It’s hard to tell how old the actual people are, but I think that doesn’t

matter, especially to Meatyard as he made sure telling features are obscured. I can’t

even tell whether the person wearing the old lady mask is a lady or not.

2. Untitled, 1963

This photograph has three masks of relatively realistic faces strewn on the branches of

a fallen tree, tending to stray towards the center and the bottom of the photograph,
contrasting against the darkest parts of the photograph. Next to the masks is a young

boy, wearing a light shirt and hanging in the branches. His face is not covered, and has

a kind of pouty face. His youngness is a contrast to the older masks, as well as his

brightness compared to the dark trees. Meatyard seems to like a very detailed and

darker background, probably to show the contrast between the masks and the people

against the scenery. The lightest part of the background is the sky peaking between the

trees. The kid is probably one of his children, as he usually gets his family to pose for

his pictures, but I’m not sure. The woman's mask looks much younger than the other

two old man masks. I’m not sure what that is supposed to represent. But it’s there, so

he probably meant it to be that way.

3. Untitled, 1957-58
This picture is lighter than the other two, but follows a similar theme. The person in the

picture is sitting in a boat on land, with a mirror on their (pretty sure they are a guy) lap,

and wearing a mask with full makeup. They are holding up another mask with long hair

like they caught a fish. The mask makes the person seem like they are being smug, but

it is probably just the angle the person is holding their face in. I think they've got their

hand in their pocket, but I can’t really tell. Even though this picture is lighter than the

other ones, it is still just as unsettling. The mirror is an interesting choice, as it seems

like it isn’t really reflecting anything, other than the person’s arm and to the hair from the

mask. Maybe it is just to lighten the picture more? I also wonder where the boat came

from, whether it was already there or Meatyard brought it there. Either way, it is still

unsettling. It is also interesting with the contrast between the fully made-up female mask

on a person in generic midwest male clothing. The field also looks unkempt, like a

random field he just found.