Ralph Eugene Meatyard: No-Focus
Reducing groups of human figures to indistinct abstractions, the artist proposes an alternate notion to the traditional photographic portrait.
![Black and white photograph of blurred dark figures](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/REM-0308a.jpg?fit=1009%2C900&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled, 1959 / printed ca. 1959
gelatin silver print, 7-1/4 x 8-1/4 inches (image & sheet) [18.4 x 21.0 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of a figure standing between two dark blobs](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meatyard_NoFocus-7.jpg?fit=882%2C900&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled, ca. 1957-58
gelatin silver print, 7-3/4 x 7-1/4 inches (sheet) [19.7 x 18.4 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of two dark figures walking](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meatyard_NoFocus-31.jpg?fit=1024%2C897&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled, 1959
gelatin silver print, 6-3/8 x 7-1/4 inches (sheet) [16.2 x 18.4 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of a hazy white blob on a dark background](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/REM-0306.jpg?fit=859%2C900&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled, ca. 1958
gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 inches (mount) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of three dark figures standing apart from one another](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meatyard_NoFocus-5.jpg?fit=1024%2C826&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled, ca. 1958
gelatin silver print, 6-3/8 x 7-7/8 inches (sheet) [16.2 x 20 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of three or four dark standing figures on a light background](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/REM.jpg?fit=1024%2C823&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled, ca. 1957-58
gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]
![Black and white photograph of blurred dark figures](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/REM-0308a.jpg?fit=675%2C602&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled
1959 / printed ca. 1959
gelatin silver print, 7-1/4 x 8-1/4 inches (image & sheet) [18.4 x 21.0 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of a figure standing between two dark blobs](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meatyard_NoFocus-7.jpg?fit=675%2C689&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled
ca. 1957-58
gelatin silver print, 7-3/4 x 7-1/4 inches (sheet) [19.7 x 18.4 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of two dark figures walking](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meatyard_NoFocus-31.jpg?fit=675%2C591&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled
1959
gelatin silver print, 6-3/8 x 7-1/4 inches (sheet) [16.2 x 18.4 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of a hazy white blob on a dark background](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/REM-0306.jpg?fit=675%2C707&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled
ca. 1958
gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 inches (mount) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of three dark figures standing apart from one another](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meatyard_NoFocus-5.jpg?fit=675%2C544&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled
ca. 1958
gelatin silver print, 6-3/8 x 7-7/8 inches (sheet) [16.2 x 20 cm]
![Black-and-white out-of-focus photograph of three or four dark standing figures on a light background](https://i0.wp.com/fraenkelgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/REM.jpg?fit=675%2C543&quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1)
Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled
ca. 1957-58
gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]