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 six photography books including the latest The Healing Presence; Photographs of the Sky and Children's Perceptions of Hope, Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, 2014 and Sacred Light: Holy Places in Louisiana, University Press of Mississippi, 2010. Other books include Clarence John Laughlin: Prophet Without Honor, University Press of Mississippi, 2007; Gettysburg to Vicksburg: Five Original 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 2005 as Professor Emeritus. Since then he is working on several projects including photographs of the sky called The Healing Presence, pairing children’s poetry with his photographs.

     A.J. Meek was 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, books, and his photography.

For a Chronology of the Work of A. J. Meek, click here.
For a listing of Collections that include the Work of A. J. Meek, click here.
For a letter to A. J. Meek's Younger Self, click here.

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