Charles A. Meyer Memorial

The Art, Art History and Film Department mourns the passing of colleague and friend Charles A. Meyer (d. Dec 21, 2020). Charles taught photography and film making between 1977-2011, and quite literally helped build the department from the ground up. In our original quarters on the Newton Campus, he helped design both our darkroom and curriculum and, when the department moved to the main campus in 1993, Charles worked closely with the architects in charge of the renovation of Devlin Hall to create a state-of-the-art photo facility.

A consummate professional, Charles has an outstanding record in both film and still photography. After creating nearly twenty highly regarded independent documentaries, he worked for several years with Ken Burns, recording the sound for such films as The Civil War, Baseball, Lindbergh, and High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music. Charles also worked with Professor John Michalczyk on several of his social justice documentaries.

Charles was committed to social justice and used the power of images to help us confront the most difficult historical and social issues. An exhibit of his work displayed in 2011 in the O’Neill Library, titled Witnessing Conflict, included photographs of survivors of the violence in Kosovo and Northern Ireland, and apartheid in South Africa, The accompanying texts, which included the testimony of the survivors, are as deeply moving and inspiring as the photos.

His photographs are in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Polaroid, and many other institutions and private collections. His work has been exhibited at numerous museums and galleries, including the Addison Gallery of American Art, the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the UNESCO Gallery in Paris.

A generous and inspiring teacher, Charles was a selfless mentor with his students, and he inspired generations of photographers. At BC, he curated noteworthy exhibitions on Edward Curtis, Aaron Siskind and the Photo League, bringing world-class photography to campus. Charles also taught at MIT, Clark University and Hampshire College, and was the Harnish Visiting Artist in Photography at Smith College.

Charles was a wonderful friend and colleague, with a terrific sense of humor. He will be missed by his fellow faculty, former students and friends. Charles is survived by his spouse of many years, Nancy J. Witting.

Websites:  http://www.charlesameyer.com/

Sacred Moments from India, Photographs by Charles Meyer, 1996

Jeffery Howe, Professor Emeritus of Art History, 27 December 2020

Photo: Charlie Meyer (center) with Etoile film crew in Jerusalem.