Raymond Meeks Explained

Raymond Meeks (born 1963) is an American photographer.[1] "Much of his work focuses on memory and place, and captures daily life with his family."[1] He has published a number of books including Pretty Girls Wander (2011) which "chronicles his daughter's journey from adolescence to adulthood";[1] and Ciprian Honey Cathedral (2020), which contains symbolic, figurative photographs taken in and around a new house, and of his partner just before waking from sleep.[2] Meeks is co-founder of Orchard Journal, in which he collaborates with others.[3]

In 2016 he received a Siskind Fellowship Grant from the Aaron Siskind Foundation and a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship.[4] [5] His work is held in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Light Work in Syracuse, NY, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Life and work

Meeks was born in Columbus, Ohio.[1] He has lived in Providence, Rhode Island[6] and the Catskill Mountains, New York.[7] He once had a career as a commercial photographer, travelling all over the U.S. "to photograph anonymous hotel rooms".[1]

"Much of his work focuses on memory and place, and captures daily life with his family."[1] Pretty Girls Wander (2011) "chronicles his daughter's journey from adolescence to adulthood."[1] Ciprian Honey Cathedral (2020) contains symbolic, figurative photographs taken in and around a new house, and of his partner just before waking from sleep.[2] Vince Aletti, wrote in Photograph Magazine, that "he finds a certain harsh beauty in its [Providence, Rhode Island's] wastelands that allies him with the best of the New Topographics crew." Parr and Badger include Meeks, along with Mark Steinmetz, Susan Lipper, Gregory Halpern, Deborah Luster, Ron Jude and Doug Rickard, in "an interesting new generation of US photographers – post-New Topographical, one might call them . . .  they are quixotic and individualistic, and are looking at America's heartland with a collective fresh eye informed by both the country's photographic heritage and a strong desire to tell American stories at a time when the country seems unsure of itself."[8]

Meeks says about his practice:“I’ll work for a while making pictures, most often within walking distance of my backyard—observations and occurrences that make up the fabric of daily life, so that I make work where I find myself wanting to spend time with a person or a subject, oftentimes dictated by the type of experiences that I want to have in the world. I’m not a prolific photographer. I don’t always have a camera on me. I spend more time without a camera, in part because the moment I have a camera, the thing I’m interested in eludes me—I don’t see it. I have to experience it without a camera first, and then hope that there’s some semblance of it when I go back to photograph that can capture what drew me towards it the first time. I’m really slow to visually organize and make sense of things, so I have to experience the things I’m drawn to a lot—quite frequently—before I can photograph, which is why I end up photographing close to home, because it’s a subtle feature in a landscape I drive past the hundredth time that finally informs a picture.”[9]

Meeks often self-publishes limited edition handmade artist's books under the name Dumbsaint Editions; these artist’s books are “raw and improvisational objects, sometimes housed in casings fashioned from foam core and strips of wood, sometimes comprising loose leaves bound together with adhesive tape, or filled with pages on which prints are made on the back of pages stripped from other books.”[10]

Meeks is co-founder of Orchard Journal,[1] in which he collaborates with some of his contemporaries.[3] Parr and Badger include Orchard Volume 1: Crime Victims Chronicle, by Meeks and Luster, in the third volume of their photobook history.[3]

Publications

Publications by Meeks

Collaborative publications

Publications with contributions by Meeks

Exhibitions

Awards

Collections

Meeks' work is held in the following permanent collections:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2018-08-09. Snapshot: ‘Winter Apples, Montana’ (2006), by Raymond Meeks. Financial Times. Matthew. Bremner.
  2. Web site: 2023-01-16. Raymond Meeks: ciprian honey cathedral. 12 November 2020. GUP Magazine.
  3. Book: Martin Parr . Gerry Badger . Martin Parr . Gerry Badger . The Photobook: A History, Volume III . London . Phaidon . 2014 . 254 . 978-0-7148-6677-2.
  4. "IPF Grant Recipients". Aaron Siskind Foundation. Accessed 9 August 2018.
  5. Web site: 2021-09-23. John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
  6. Web site: 2018-08-09. January - February 2014: Photo Books. Photograph Magazine. 3 July 2015. Vince. Aletti. Vince Aletti.
  7. News: The New York Times. Magazine. 2018-08-09. The Voyages Issue: Remarkable Journeys With Six Photographers.
  8. Book: Martin Parr . Gerry Badger . Martin Parr . Gerry Badger . The Photobook: A History, Volume III . London . Phaidon . 2014 . 108–109 . 978-0-7148-6677-2.
  9. Web site: Wolukau-Wananbwa . Stanley . A Conversation with Raymond Meeks .
  10. Web site: Wolukau-Wananbwa . Stanley . A Conversation with Raymond Meeks .
  11. Web site: 2020-12-01. Raymond Meeks Ciprian Honey Cathedral. 29 September 2020. American Suburb X.
  12. Web site: 2023-01-16. The Dark Interiors of the American Home. phmuseum.com.
  13. Web site: 2021-09-23. Raymond Meeks ruminates on the layered concept of ‘home’ - 1854 Photography. www.1854.photography.
  14. News: Moment . Matt . Photographer Raymond Meeks on attention and empathy . 2024-03-30 . . en.
  15. Web site: 2018-08-09. Orchard Volume One - Crime Victims Chronicle with Deborah Luster / Silas Finch. Silas Finch Foundation.
  16. Web site: 1 .
  17. Web site: Raymond Meeks: Cabbage White .
  18. Web site: Raymond Meeks: In Love with Drama .
  19. Web site: Raymond Meeks: Where Objects Fall Away .
  20. Web site: 2018-08-09. 6 Photographers Awarded 2016 Aaron Siskind Foundation Grants. Photo District News. 21 July 2016.
  21. Web site: 2018-08-09. Raymond Meeks - Author - Resources from the BnF. Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  22. Web site: 2018-08-09. CollectiveAccess error. Light Work.
  23. Web site: 2018-08-09. Search the Collection. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
  24. Web site: 2021-09-23. Artist Info. www.nga.gov.