Ray K. Metzker (September 10, 1931 – October 9, 2014) was an American photographer known chiefly for his stark, experimental Black and White cityscapes and for his large assemblages of printed film strips and single frames, known as Composites. Neither seeking nor achieving particular renown during his lifetime, Metzker's work is held in more than 45 major public collections; is the subject of eight monographs; and was the subject of 50 one-man exhibitions. He received awards including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts and Royal Photographic Society. His longtime dealer, Laurence Miller, called Metzker "the last great Modern photographer."

Background

Born in Milwaukee on Sept. 10, 1931 to William Martin Metzker and Mary Helen Metzker (nee Kreuger). Metzker grew up with a brother, Carl and a sister Mary Ellen. With his parents focused on his sister's cerebral palsy, Metzker developed a sense of isolation; he considered himself "acutely shy". Metzker loved classical music, history and drawing, but his passion for photography was cemented when his mother gave him a camera at age 12. Photography "gave him a connection, a way of formally encountering the world and expressing his love for it, or what he calls his belief “about the goodness of things." Metzker would develop photographs in his bedrooom, winning numerous high school competitions sponsored by Eastman Kodak. Metzker graduated from Beloit College in Wisconsin with a fine arts degree in 1953; entered the Army and served in Korea; subsequently graduating with a Master's degree in 1959 from the Institute of Design at the Institute of Design in Chicago — where he studied with eminent photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. He lived in Philadelphia from the 1960s until his death, was married to the photographer Ruth Thorne-Thomsen, and died in Germantown, Philadelphia on October 9, 2014.

Career

Metzker taught for many years at the Philadelphia College of Art and also taught at the University of New Mexico. After graduate studies at the Institute of Design in Chicago, Metzker travelled extensively throughout Europe in 1960-61, where he had two epiphanies: that "light" would be his primary subject, and that he would seek synthesis and complexity over simplicity. Metzker often said the artist begins his explorations by embracing what he doesn't know.

Awards

Collections

Metzker's work is held in the following public collections: