The Scene: A Frozen Moment in Time
“A photograph is not just the result of an encounter between an event and a photographer, picture-taking is an event in itself, and one with ever more peremptory rights – to interfere with, to invade, or to ignore whatever is going on” (Sontag, 11).
Photography narrates the world. A simple photograph can freeze time, halt any moment you please. Photographers have a choice to choose between telling a narrative and expressing art. But when it comes down to it, no matter how complete or comprehensive a narrative appears it will always be the product of including some elements and excluding others based on what the creator wants to be viewed. Inclusion/exclusion is part of what construction is all about, but knowing what is best included or excluded requires an understanding of context. With narrative or art photography events are not found objects waiting to be discovered, they are created, whether by the photographer or the person within the photograph. If it is a live action, journalistic photograph, something led up to that moment in time, it was created. In photography, narrative is related to the idea of context, that is where the photographer comes in and adds their point of view and taste on a subject matter.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard uses a narrative format to portray exactly what he wants to be seen in his photographs “Untitled” ca. 1960 and “Romance (N.) from Ambrose Bierce #3” from portfolio 3 ca. 1964. Susan Sontag’s ideas of Plato’s Cave and Allan Sekula’s idea of possible meaning; will relate to what Meatyard is depicting throughout his photographs. He uses masks to universalize each individual. He sets his photograph in areas and scenes that are appealing to him; that will add context to his photographs. Using the masks relates to Sekula’s idea of possible meaning. What is Meatyard’s meaning for the masks? Why does Meatyard pose his models in the positions he does? Meatyard produces his photographs the way he wants them to been seen and perceived, which relates to Sontag’s description of Plato’s Cave indicating the viewer can only see what is presented to them and nothing outside of what they are shown. Sontag presents an image of how man can only see what is shown to him and what are believed as true and real. Meatyard produces these images with masks, masking any identity.
Romance (N.) From Ambrose Bierce #3 from Portfolio 3, negative 1964/1974

In Meatyard’s photograph “Romance (N.) From Ambrose Bierce #3” from portfolio 3 (1964), four people sit in different positions, all wearing masks, all in casual everyday clothing. They sit on stairs, but never the same one. The character in the foreground wears a mask of a monster. The person has their legs fully extended and spread apart in a “V” with their arms resting on their legs. In the middle ground, sitting three steps up is another character with a mask that is part man and part burnt remains of a face. They sit with their hand under their chin and elbow on their leg while the other arm remains slightly bent with their hand on their thigh. One leg is bent that their elbow rest upon it. The right leg is more relaxed, bent but to the side while the foot lay on its side. Two stairs above that character we have another character, whose body is slightly larger than the others. They sit with their feet on the step below them, knees bent to his chest. Their elbows are rested upon their knees, while their hands are rested between their knees with one hand holding the others wrist. Steps above him are the smallest of the characters. They sit with no arms visible and legs at a 90 degree angle, with legs closed together. The mask this character wears is a man with big eyes, a black mustache and a large smile. Why is any of this important? Because this is how Meatyard positioned these characters and chose these masks.
Meatyard put his characters in mask is equivalent to the masks in our society. Meatyard’s thought process of using this narrative to make the viewer look deeper into the picture relates to Sontag’s idea of Plato’s Cave. Sontag discusses how photography stops a moment in time, freezing time, and that moment portraying what is true and evident in that moment, which Meatyard does. He places each character the way he wants, snaps a picture and freezes time. Only leaving behind what he wants the viewer to see, which is Sontag’s idea of Plato’s Cave. Sekula’s idea is similar stating in his novel, Thinking Photography, “Any given photograph is conceivably open to appropriation by a range of ‘texts’, each new discourse situation generating its own set of messages” (Sekula, 91). Meatyard’s idea of this photograph and meaning is left to interpretation but he leads your mind in the direction he wants to because of the decisions he made of the setting, the people, and the masks. Untitled, 1960
In Meatyard’s photograph “Untitled,” 1960, there are two young boys in a room with dirty walls. On the main wall there is a small American flag hanging next to the light switch. A chair sits off centered to the door frame while a boy sits in the chair. Off the boys right shoulder stands another boy whose arm disappears behind the other boy. The boy standing is in the door frame, but the door is not completely open. Both boys have solemn expressions. The boy sitting is looking down, while the one standing is looking into the distance, but both have their heads tilted towards their right shoulders. Both boys are out of place in this dirty, run down home. Paint is peeling off the walls and dark smudges go down the wall. The boy sitting down is in a perfectly white t-shirt and jeans. The boy standing is in a dark colored jersey and darker shorts.
The same concepts about how Meatyard placed these characters apply to the ideas from the previous picture. The difference for “Untitled” is the setting. It’s a narrative scene we can all relate to. We all have been in a room and sat in a chair. The room has the feeling of familiarity. In contrast to Sontag’s ideas of Plato’s Cave, the young boys give off a sense of boredom. We know the boys have a life outside of this room and outside of this image. Is the reasoning for this because we can see the boys and their expressions instead of being covered by masks? Sontag states in her book, On Photography, “The omnipresence of cameras persuasively suggests that time consists of interesting events, events worth photographing. This, in turn, makes it easy to feel that any event, once underway, and whatever its moral character, should be allowed to complete itself – so that something else can be brought into the world, the photograph” (Sontag, 11). This moment in time is interesting because we have two boys on a day where the sun is shining through the windows in the background, yet they are inside, clean, with solemn expressions. Sekula would discuss the meaning of why these boys are inside and the hidden message within this photograph, which is constantly up for interpretation depending on how you view the photograph. “All photographic communication seems to take place within the conditions of a kind of binary folklore. That is, there is ‘symbolist’ folk-myth and a ‘realist’ folk-myth. The misleading but popular form of this opposition is ‘art photography’ vs. ‘documentary photography’. Every photograph tends…towards one of these two poles of meaning” (Sekula, 108). You can view anyone one of Meatyard’s works and come up with multiple interpretations but what led you to that moment in time was that Meatyard had thought about and planned.
To conclude my argument of Meatyard’s underlying messages of what he wants to be seen and the direction he directs you with this contexts you cannot mistake his photographs for being mere accident. Meatyard creates art, but also freezes moments of time at the exact moment he wants to create a time for others to view.