Reed, Roland, 1864-1934

Roland W. Reed, photographer, was best-known for his pictures of the North American Indians of Montana and the Northwest. Reed was born on June 22, 1866, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and was schooled there until he was 18 years old, when he quit to take an apprenticeship to a carpenter. After completing the apprenticeship, he worked as a carpenter for a decade. It was this work that brought him to the West and Montana, where he became interested in photography. He began to study that art with a professional photographer, Daniel Dutro, and ultimately went into partnership with his mentor. Reed's primary interest was in photographing the Native Americans of the Northwest. He had become interested in their cultures as a boy in Wisconsin and found the interest never left him. Among his eventual subjects were the chiefs of the Ojibway, Flathead, Kootenai and Blackfoot tribes. His goal was to represent Indian life "as it had once been." Many of his photographs were elaborately staged, occasionally involving the casting of people to portray various parts and the use of wigs and costumes. Critics nonetheless praised the composition of his work, and Reed himself viewed his approach idealistically, as the only way to "give a vivid sense of an Indian world⁵unaffected and unmarred by the white man's encroachment." He was strict about how and where his photos could be used. National Geographic magazine was the only publication with rights assigned by Reed to publish his photographs.Reed died in 1934.

Roland W. Reed, photographer, was best-known for his pictures of the North American Indians of Montana and the Northwest.

Reed was born on June 22, 1866, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and was schooled there until he was 18 years old, when he quit to take an apprenticeship to a carpenter. After completing the apprenticeship, he worked as a carpenter for a decade. It was this work that brought him to the West and Montana, where he became interested in photography. He began to study that art with a professional photographer, Daniel Dutro, and ultimately went into partnership with his mentor.

Reed's primary interest was in photographing the Native Americans of the Northwest. He had become interested in their cultures as a boy in Wisconsin and found the interest never left him. Among his eventual subjects were the chiefs of the Ojibway, Flathead, Kootenai and Blackfoot tribes. His goal was to represent Indian life "as it had once been." Many of his photographs were elaborately staged, occasionally involving the casting of people to portray various parts and the use of wigs and costumes. Critics nonetheless praised the composition of his work, and Reed himself viewed his approach idealistically, as the only way to "give a vivid sense of an Indian world???unaffected and unmarred by the white man's encroachment."

He was strict about how and where his photos could be used. National Geographic magazine was the only publication with rights assigned by Reed to publish his photographs. Reed died in 1934.