When photographer Laura Merage moved to Denver in the 1990s, she searched for a gallery that specialized in photography.

She soon found Camera Obscura. And Hal Gould.

Merage learned about his influence on the local art community. Then there was his long history of photographing everything under the sun, including timeless scenes of the West. But there also was his commitment to bringing a wide variety of fine photography to Denver viewers.

Years later, Merage now also wears the hat of philanthropist and is the force behind RedLine. And she has decided to give Gould, born in 1920 and still going strong, his due.

While the Byers-Evans House Gallery is showing a selection of predominantly Western images shot by Gould since the 1950s, RedLine is featuring "Hal Gould: A Retrospective," with more than 70 works. Those Western views certainly are here, but so are portraits, abstract works, nudes, architecturally themed images and lots of landscapes - including works that reflect Gould's long fascination with the bristlecone pine.

Although this retrospective might seem an unusual choice for a venue founded on the premise of showing cutting-edge art, Gould has always sought invention in his work. Plus, as Merage says, "One of our goals is to support local artists and showcase their work."

And what work.

The exhibition opens with an homage to 15 noted photographers whose work Gould's gallery has brought to area viewers, including Ruth Bernhard, Robert Capa, Philippe Halsman and Sebastiao Salgado.

Then the spacious gallery opens up to areas devoted to various themes. Almost a dozen of those gnarled pines crawl up one wall, while another area is devoted to Gould's commercial work, including portraits that dig deep for the sitter's personality. Architecture manifests itself in everything from a moody Bent's Fort to a 1987 view of a down- on-its-luck Market Street entryway in lower downtown. Images move from the West to the Great Wall and a Moscow street sweeper.

Merage asked independent curator Rupert Jenkins to select images and organize an exhibition once a major culling had been made by RedLine board member Tom Guiton and Paul Harbaugh (the latter organized the Byers-Evans show).

"This space is so big, and we had to think about how to deal with that," says Jenkins, who moved to Denver three years ago from San Francisco to work on an MBA at the University of Denver, where he is the editor for DU's Victoria H. Myhren Gallery.

Jenkins' thematic installation, the nod to other photographers, plenty of wall text on Gould and the back stories of his photographs - plus a video by Rori Knudtson - come together in a smart, rich show.

To augment the Gould work and acknowledge RedLine's stance as an evolving contemporary art center, Jenkins also organized a small show of contemporary photography that recalls Gould's emphasis on place.

Installed in a space originally tagged as a cafe, "Places Like Us" includes Richard Barnes' stunning shots of giant flocks (called murmurations) of starlings, Lisa Blatt's minimalist views of light, Liu Bolin's fool-the-eye images of people melting into their surroundings and Andrea Wallace's portraits of visitors to a hot springs.

The space is way too bright to allow Blatt's video to read well, but with some tweaks, it can serve as a gallery devoted to the counterpoint.

"Places Like Us" does just that, a grace note to the sweep of Gould's multifaceted commitment to photography and the region.

Hal Gould A Retrospective

* What: More than 70 works by the photographer, as well as "Places Like Us," contemporary photography by Richard Barnes, Lisa Blatt, Liu Bolin and Andrea Wallace

* Where and when: RedLine, 2350 Arapahoe St.; through March 28

* Information: 303-296-4448; redlineart.org