Roland W. Reed (American, 1864-1934) "Waiting for the Hunters," vintage photograph circa 1915, depicting two Native American Indian women on horseback, each horse carrying a travois, with mountains in the background. In old walnut molded frame with old handwritten label en verso "Indian __ by Roland Reed" and handwritten partial note: "Given by — to her — Purchased– Exposition San Diego from wonderful Indian display." Reed exhibited at the 1915 Panama-California Exhibition in San Diego, where his photographs were awarded the Gold Medal for "pictures of an educational and historical value". Photograph: 13 7/8" H x 10 3/4" W. Framed: 14 1/4" H x 17 1/2" W. Provenance: Memphis, Tennessee estate. Biography Reed was born in Wisconsin and observed Native Americans during his childhood. In 1893, in Havre, Montana, he met Civil War veteran Daniel Dutro, who introduced him to photography. After a brief apprenticeship, he became Dutro's partner and they worked together doing portrait work and photographing Indians for the Great Northern. He also photographed the Alaskan Gold Rush in 1897 for the Associated Press. In 1899 he opened a studio in Ortonville, Minnesota and later, in Bemidji. He also began to spend time photographing the Ojibwe on the Red Lake Reservation. It soon became his passion to show the lives and culture of Native Americans which was gradually being wiped out. He would take many photos, not of reservation-ravaged people, but of the proud individuals, community, and culture with which he grew up. In 1907 he sold both his Ortonville and Bemidji studios, and for the next two years lived full time near the Red Lake Reservation working to photograph the Ojibwe, the People of the Woodlands. Reed returned to Montana in 1909 and opened a studio in Kalispell near what would become the western entrance to Glacier National Park. For the next six years he worked doing portrait photography, as well as photographing the Plains Indians of Northern Montana and southern Alberta, Canada: the Blackfeet, Piegan, Blood, Flathead, and Cheyenne. He also did extensive promotional work for the Great Northern Railroad, and supplied photographs for National Geographic magazine and books such as Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park by James W. Schultz and Enchanted Trails of Glacier Park by Agnes Laut. In 1913 he spent a number of months in the Southwest photographing the Hopi and the Navajo, after which he returned to Montana. From 1920 to 1927 he had a studio in Denver, Colorado and then returned to San Diego to retire. In the early 1930s he began to work on a book showcasing his photographs of Native American life, but unfortunately it was never completed. In 1934 he was returning to San Diego after visiting family in Minnesota. He stopped in Colorado Springs to visit friends where he had a fatal accident and was buried there in Evergreen Cemetery. (source: The Museum of Wisconsin Art) CONDITION: Overall good condition. Some miniscule losses to edges of image, creases along top edge up to 3", some remnants of old newspaper adhered to top edge of back, along with adhesive residue to top and sides of back.