Ray Atkeson was a U.S. photographer best known for his landscape images, particularly of the American West.
His best known photographs are black and white prints, many still popular in galleries, stores, books, traveling art exhibition

Art exhibition

Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

s, and screensaver

Screensaver

A screensaver is a type of computer program initially designed to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma computer monitors by blanking the screen or filling it with moving images or patterns when the computer is not in use...

s. His awards include:

• Distinguished Citizen of Oregon
• Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Linfield College
  Linfield College
  Linfield College is an American private institution of higher learning located in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. As a four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college with a campus in Portland, Oregon, it also has an adult degree program located in eight communities throughout the...
  
  
• Distinguished Service Award
• Oregon Governor's Art Award
• Oregon state Photographer Laureate (1987–1990)
• inducted into the Photographic Hall of Fame

History

Ray Atkeson was a commercial photographer in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 for seventeen years 1929-1946 after arriving in Oregon in 1927. From 1946-1973 he was a free lancer photographer and published several photo compilations. The photobooks are mostly of Oregon and Washington, but later work included California.

His photographs captured 1930s fishing vessels recently adapted to use engines to women building warships for World War II.
Alan Engen called Atkeson "the finest ski photographer ever."

Atkeson lugged around heavy 4x5 camera equipment and photographed a rich variety of winter mountain scenery and activity. Many of his alpine photos were taken before the chairlift

Chairlift

An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...

 was invented and required ski stamina.
Among his subjects were Errol Flynn

Errol Flynn

Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...

, Yosemite, many of the Oregon and Washington

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

 Cascade mountains. In his later years his granddaughter Karen Schmeer

Karen Schmeer

Karen Schmeer was a film editor who frequently collaborated with filmmaker Errol Morris.-Early life:...

 assisted him with his work, including driving him to photo-shoot locations after his eyesight began to fail.

Atkeson maintained two homes: one on the Oregon Coast

Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It runs generally north-south along the Pacific Ocean, forming the western border of the state; the region is bounded to the east by the Oregon Coast Range. The Oregon Coast stretches approximately from the Columbia River in the north to...

, the other in Portland.

In 1988, Atkeson was one of the chief petitioners for the successful Measure 7 which added 500 miles (804.7 km) to the Oregon Scenic Waterway System originally formed by an initiative passed in 1970.

External links

• Gallery of 241 photographs for sale