A. J. Meek was born in
Beatrice, Nebraska, August 29, 1941. Spending much of his early
childhood moving from state to state, the family finally settled in
Denver, Colorado, where Meek finished high school. After a stint in
the U. S. Air Force where he learned photography, he earned his
B.F.A. with honors at the Art Center College of Design in Los
Angeles. While there, he studied with Todd Walker and Phil Cohen. At
Ohio University, he did his thesis with Arnold Gassan, and graduated
with an M.F.A. degree in 1972. His early influences were from Alfred
Stieglitz, Minor White, and Paul Caponigro. He was interested in
White's inner spiritual journey and the symbolic visual nature of
light and dark along with Caponigro's love of nature and form. Later
the documentary work of Walker Evans and the French photographer
Eugene Atget became important considerations to his work.
His first teaching position was at Utah State
University in Logan, Utah. In 1977 Meek came to Louisiana to start a
photography program at Louisiana State University where he became
the senior professor in the area. He was a recipient of the
Louisiana Division of the Art Fellowship and two National
Endowment/Southern Arts Fellowships in photography. His work has
been widely exhibited nationally and internationally including
several museum shows; such as, the Birmingham Museum of Art, New
Orleans Museum of Art, and the Inverness Museum in Inverness,
Scotland.
He is the co-author of one and the author of four
photography books including the latest, Clarence John Laughlin:
Prophet Without Honor, University of Mississippi Press, 2007;
Gettysburg to Vicksburg: The Five Original Civil War Battlefield
Parks, University of Missouri Press, 2001; Gardens of Louisiana:
Places of Work and Wonder, Louisiana State University Press, 1997;
and Red Pepper Paradise: Avery Island, Louisiana, Audubon Park
Press, 1986. His work is in several private and public collections
including the Houston Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, and
the Chrysler Museum of Art. In addition to his personal honors, he
has been awarded several prestigious grants from Louisiana State
University Council on Research and the Louisiana Endowment for the
Humanities.
Meek is best known for his elegant toned silver gelatin
contact prints made with an 8 x 20 banquet camera of landscapes in
Louisiana and the American West. In 2002 he was awarded the Emogene
Pliner Distinguished Professor of Art Chair and retired in 2004 as
Professor Emeritus. Since then he is working on several projects
including photographing, in part, the restoration of churches and
synagogues that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
A.J. Meek is the Garrey Carruthers Distinguished Chair
in Honors at the University of New Mexico for the 2009 academic year. He continues a creative lifestyle. His energy goes
into lectures, writing, painting, and his photography.
For a Chronology of the Work of A. J. Meek,
click
here.
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