Susie Reed

Approach

Susie works in the field rather than in a studio, photographing subjects as she finds them. She took her degree with honours in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute, first visited Sedona in the mid nineties, came back every year to shoot it, and moved down from Sausalito in 2005. She now lives near Cathedral Rock, which is still the subject she photographs most.

She is best known for her pictures of Southwest rock art. That started in 1995, when she came across pictographs and petroglyphs while on holiday here, and it turned into the work she is now recognised for. Coconino National Forest archaeologist Peter Pilles became her mentor after they crossed paths at a remote site, and many of her photographs of sites, excavations and field schools are held in the Forest archives. An Individual Artist Grant from the Sedona Arts and Cultural Commission put her rock art pictures on permanent display in the Sedona visitor centres.

Alongside the photography she guides and teaches: private scenic, photo and archaeology tours around Sedona, one-to-one Photoshop and Lightroom instruction, portfolio reviews and critiques, for photographers at any level and on any kind of camera. She has taught and spoken at the California College of the Arts, the Sedona Arts Center, the San Francisco Art Institute and Sedona Photofest, which she helped start.

Her fine art has been shown at the Cooper Hewitt, the De Young Museum, the International Museum of Photography and the Library of Congress, and her commercial clients have included Chronicle Books, the Enchantment Resort, Levis, Macy's, Tiffany's and Xerox. Since 2009 she has been represented in Sedona by Goldenstein Gallery.