Ralph Eugene Meatyard (1925–1972) lived in Lexington, Kentucky, where he made his living as an optician while creating an impressive and enigmatic body of photographs. Meatyard’s creative circle included mystics and poets, such as Thomas Merton and Guy Davenport, as well as the photographers Cranston Ritchie and Van Deren Coke, who were mentors and fellow members of the Lexington Camera Club. Meatyard’s work spanned many genres and experimented with new means of expression, from dreamlike portraits—often set in abandoned places—to multiple exposures, motion-blur, and other methods of photographic abstraction.

From feedback when presenting my work on Masks, my teacher identified that my work has the same feel as Meatyard's. Although his work is quite unsettling, it is actually a very natural and simplistic idea that captures children in their natural setting. What makes his work unusual is the fact these children are then covered by masks which creates a more sinister feel.  Meatyard said that masks erased the differences between people. He photographed his family, photograph three, in 1962.