Assignment task:
Roland (Royal Jr.) W. Reed (June 22, 1864 - December 14, 1934), American artist and photographer, was part of an early 20th century group of photographers of Native Americans known as pictorialists.
Pictorialists were influenced by the late 19th Century art movement, Impressionism, and their photography was characterized by an emphasis on lighting and focus. Rather than record an imge as it was, pictorialists were more interested in re-creating an image as they thought it might have been. Part artist and part scientist, they endeavored to have their re-creations reflect not only the highest artistic value, but unquestioned ethnological accuracy as well. At the beginning of the 20th century a number of pictorialists, noticing the extremely deleterious impact of reservation life on Native Americas, wanted to recreate in photographs the Indian's life and ways as they had been in better times, rather than record how it had actually become.
Question 1: Why might the background information, above, and Reed's write-up about getting the photograph lead you to question the photograph's reliability as evidence of the life of Native Americans at the time?
Question 2: What is one aspect of the photo and write-up about Reed that might lead you to question its reliability as evidence of the life of Native Americans at the time?
Question 3: What is one thing you would want to ask Roland Reed about this photo or write up to better determine its reliability?