Raymond Meeks is an American photographer. "Much of his work focuses on memory and place, and captures daily life with his family." He has published a number of books including Pretty Girls Wander which "chronicles his daughter's journey from adolescence to adulthood." He is co-founder of Orchard Journal, in which he collaborates with others. In 2016 Meeks received a Siskind Fellowship Grant from the Aaron Siskind Foundation. His work is held in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, Light Work in Syracuse, NY, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Life and work
Meeks was born in Columbus, Ohio. He has lived in Providence, Rhode Island and the Catskill Mountains, New York. He once had a career as a commercial photographer, travelling all over the U.S. "to photograph anonymous hotel rooms". "Much of his work focuses on memory and place, and captures daily life with his family." Vince Aletti, wrote in Photograph Magazine, that "he finds a certain harsh beauty in its 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." Meeks is co-founder of Orchard Journal, in which he collaborates with some of his contemporaries. Parr and Badger include Orchard Volume 1: Crime Victims Chronicle, by Meeks and Luster, in the third volume of their photobook history.
Publications
Publications by Meeks
Sound of Summer Running. Tucson: Nazraeli, 2004. Photographs by Meeks, text by Rick Bass.. Accompanied by a booklet of poetry with the same title by Forrest Gander. Edition of 50 copies.
A Clearing. Portland: Nazraeli, 2008.. Edition of 500 copies
Doctrine of an Axe. One Picture Book 54. Portland: Nazraeli, 2008.. Eight reproductions and one original photograph. Includes on a separate leaf the poem "The doctrine of an axe" by Maurice Manning. Edition of 500 copies.
Middle Air. Self-published / Dumbsaint, 2009. Edition of 40 copies.
Carousel. Self-published / Dumbsaint, 2009. Two editions of 60 copies total.
Nevermore. Self-published, 2008.. With a poem by Kazimir Malevich. Edition of 25 copies.
Contact Sheet 179: Raymond Meeks. Syracuse: Light Work, 2014.. Includes a conversation between Meeks and Shane Lavalette.
In Love with Drama. Self-published / Dumbsaint, 2015. Edition of 8 copies.
Winter Farm Auction 1.2016 Mt Gilead, Ohio. Self-published / Dumbsaint, 2016. Folio of six broadsides. Edition of 10 copies.
Halfstory Halflife. Paris: Chose Commune, 2018..
Collaborative publications
Orchard Volume 1: November 2010: Deborah Luster: Crime Victims Chronicle. New York: Silas Finch, 2010. By Meeks and Deborah Luster. Three editions of 200 copies total.. "Photographs taken by Meeks while assisting Luster in New Orleans with text excerpted from A Crime Victims Guidebook by Rose Preston, and a portfolio of images from Luster's body of work Tooth for an Eye." With a text by Kevin Sullivan.
Orchard Volume 2: Not Seen | Not Said: Wes Mills. New York: Silas Finch, 2011. Photographs by Meeks, drawings by Wes Mills. Three editions of 200 copies total.
Orchard Volume 3: Idyll: Mark Steinmetz. New York: Silas Finch, 2011. One body of work by each of Meeks and Mark Steinmetz. Three editions of 200 copies total.
Dumbsaint 01: Township. TIS/dumbsaint. Brooklyn: Tis, 2017. Photographs by Meeks, Adrianna Ault and Tim Carpenter. Short story by Brad Zellar. Two editions of 750 copies total.
