Rick Reed


	Rick Reed Columbia, Missouri
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		E-mail this artist at rickr@riker.ps.missouri.edu.
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Growing up in Oregon I always felt that nature had the capacity to express itself with such power and clarity. I have always felt somewhat humbled to witness a grand vista or an intimate natural space. My photography has just been an extension of these experiences.

I never really felt artistic with my photography. I wanted to get out of the way of what the scene had to express, and hopefully capture some limited version of it on the film.

Digital photography is a wonderful way to come back to these images later and re-explore them and begin to gently nudge the images a little further toward the expression I perceived when I was taking the photo. I still don't find myself trying to "say something" with the images. I am still trying to let the initial expression of natural beauty come through to the viewer.

"Grand Canyon," I feel, conveys the calm power I experienced while standing at its edge. Digital manipulation allowed me to peel away a lot of the haze and raise the grain of the details that were obscured in the original photo. These details, especially the color details, help convey the scale and complexity of the landscape and gives the image a more painterly feel.

"Fog Tree" is a more intimate image, but still conveys the quiet power of nature. The colors in the cliff form shapes that evoke for me the feeling of the earth as a creative force, supporting the life above it. On its strength, delicate life can flourish. The fog adds intimacy to the image, focusing attention on the relationship of the trees to the cliff face.