Ralph Eugene Meatyard

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.”

The series consists of 64 portraits of “Lucybelle Crater”, a name adapted by Meatyard from a character in a Flannery O’Connor short story.

I have been really inspired in the way Meatyard uses masks to cover identities. He is known famously for his work 'The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater', in which he pictures his family in masks bought from a local Woolworths store. By naming each photograph 'Lucybelle Crater' he removes even more identity than the masks do. Even though you can see that the characters are different members of his family as they are all named the same their identities are hidden.

I have attached a few images from 'The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater' below.