Raymond Bleesz. A New Selection of Photographs Chronicling the American West Over the Last 50 Years

We’re very pleased to present a new selection of Raymond’s photographs, taken over the last 50 years. These images are available as 30 x 40 inch prints, issued in limited editions of 3.

Raymond Bleesz is a self-taught photographer who has lived and photographed in Colorado since 1970. Stepping out of the high school classroom as a teacher of history and photography, Bleesz has pursued an interest in traditional black & white photography, characterized by a strong attention to the craft of print-making. This old school approach makes him a bit of an anachronism today but aligns him with a long line of artists who have focused their life’s work on chronicling the American West.

The photography historian Lyle Rexer wrote: “Raymond Bleesz is an American original… American originals tend to be attached to places, patches of land (even though they may travel far and wide), and their work has a strong regional flavor. At the same time, no matter how local their interests, they always seem to seek qualities that are universal, that could be understood and appreciated by anyone...

Is this universal mode of address all just an illusion of American optimism?

Raymond has been looking at a large patch of land in Colorado and points west for a very long time. He is sensitive to its physical moods and textures, its spaces, and its theatrical shifts of light. There’s plenty of visual interest in his landscapes, made even more dramatic by the contrast of his favoured black and white. But unlike Ansel Adams’ west, Raymond’s is populated. People make their marks on it, build there, and travel through.

Most important of all about this photographer, more important even that the extensive catalog of Colorado scenes he has imaged, is a quality of sympathy. This is especially clear in his portraits. Very often what you see in photographic portraits is an artifact, usually of the photographer’s control and desire to make some kind of statement… In Raymond’s portraits, something else is revealed. His portraits rarely seem forced even when they are formal because what he really captures is something that passes back and forth between himself and his subjects. I am not sure how to put that into words. Call it respect or affection or trust, it yields portraits that are distinct and particular as a signature but as common and familiar as a nearby relative. He accords them dignity, but he lets them breathe.”

During the early 19 th century, a romantic image of the American West was invented. Beginning as early as the expedition of Lewis and Clark, myths began to be generated about the West as a rough and tumble land of cowboys and Indians. From these myths an image of the West as a placeholder of nostalgia evolved, in contrast to an ever-modernizing America. That is no less true today. But Bleesz is equally informed by Robert Adams’ understanding of the American West, showing “a landscape of mistakes,” where the land has been exploited. Consequently, Bleesz’s images contain both elements of nostalgia, coupled with a sense of harsh realism, documenting what it’s like to live out in the mountains these days.