Barbara Van Cleve (b. 1935)
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Title:
A Good Piece of 'Twine'
Date:
2000
Size:
29 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches
Medium:
Archival Pigment Print
Barbara Van Cleve’s heritage is rich with family history and firsthand experience. Her family’s ranch, the Lazy K Bar, was founded in 1880 on the east slopes of the Crazy Mountains near Melville, Montana. Her father, Spike Van Cleve, was a unique combination of writer, poet, Harvard scholar and expert horseman-and “a pure quill Montanan” as her father once put it.
Barbara was raised with one brother and two sisters on the ranch where her family still continues to raise “black baldy” Angus cattle and fine registered Quarter Horses.
As a photographer, she has held a camera since she was 11 years old when her parents give her a “Brownie” camera and a home developing kit. Her youthful interest in photography soon grew into a lifelong commitment. Ranch work also began early for Barbara. Barely six, she could be found helping at the corrals or sitting astride a horse. Ever since she has been documenting the “true grit” and romantic beauty of her experiences on the ranch and on other ranches in the West.
Barbara was raised with one brother and two sisters on the ranch where her family still continues to raise “black baldy” Angus cattle and fine registered Quarter Horses.
As a photographer, she has held a camera since she was 11 years old when her parents give her a “Brownie” camera and a home developing kit. Her youthful interest in photography soon grew into a lifelong commitment. Ranch work also began early for Barbara. Barely six, she could be found helping at the corrals or sitting astride a horse. Ever since she has been documenting the “true grit” and romantic beauty of her experiences on the ranch and on other ranches in the West.