Roland W Reed: Pictorialist of the American West.

Echoe's Call, Roland W Reed, 1913.

In a recent posting I compared the work of Don Hong-Oai, an early photographer of classic Chinese landscapes, with that of Edward Sherif Curtis.

As I continue to study the Chinese work, pondering the magical lighting, the misty mountains, the romantic feel of the pictorialist work, I realize that a better reference point for comparison is the work of Roland W Reed. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has placed much of his work online, and it's a treasure. Working in the same genre as Curtis and at about the same time (and growing up within 100 miles of him, in Wisconsin), Reed clearly had a different vision of native Americans in their natural world.

Making the reference even more specific to my observations, it's difficult to look at some of Reed's works and avoid the association with Asian works.

For Reed it seemed at least as important to portray the sheer beauty of the American West--as if he realized at some level this world was at risk for disappearance as well, as much as its inhabitants would be.

Ojibway Birchbark Boats, Roland W Reed, 1907

Sherif's work has gone on to become legendary. Reed's has all but disappeared from national consciousness. Reed was an artist, speaking from his heart. Sherif was an anthropologist and a man on a mission. In my parlance I would say he was responding to a profound Calling, one over which he had little or no control.

Each work has its unquestioning quality and value. For documentation purposes I would turn to Sherif's ouvre--recognizing, of course, the questions raised by his record of staging photographs for effect. For emotional impact, Reed's work would be a touchstone.

The one strikes me as closer to Science, almost a catalog. I look at the work, study it for detail if I wish, and move on.

The other invites me into the picture, where I spend some time. Where time itself slows down. The Art Quote of the Day at the time of this posting is from Georges Braque: There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain.

The work of Roland W Reed is Art. It's power is beyond analysis.

The Hunting Ground, Roland W Reed, 1912.