My name is Richard Blue Cloud Castaneda. I’m a Pima-Maricopa from the Salt River Reservation in Scottsdale, AZ. I live in Santa Fe, NM, and attend college at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) where I’m studying two-dimensional arts, with a special interest in photography.

I started taking photographs for the first time two semesters ago in the fall session of 2001 at IAIA. Since then, I have exhibited my works at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, the University of New Mexico, and the 2002 AIHEC Conference in Rapid City, SD. In collaboration with artist Charlene Teters, I currently have a body of work entitled “Baseball and Playing Indians” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Some of my recent photographs were published in the May/June issue of Native Voice.

Photography has always been my passion, but I didn’t know it. I remember as a child I could take pictures with my mind, but I never had the education nor the peer and financial support to learn how to get them out. I eventually forgot all about it.

It has taken 30 years and the birth of my son for me to finally acknowledge and pursue my dreams as an artist. Holding my newborn son, River, his head resting in the crease of my arms, I began to see the importance and value of finding and pursuing my childhood dreams. The success of my pursuit is directly related to the possibilities of his. How could I give him something I didn’t have? For this reason I could no longer ignore my passion. To pursue my dreams is to never forget. This I owe to all my relations.