Visionary photographer
Edward Sheriff Curtis spent 30 years documenting the waning
cultures of North American Indians. But following his death in
1952, his work plummeted into obscurity.
Curtis’
photographs were a mix of stoic portraiture, peopled landscapes and
illustrations of tribal life. He photographed Nez Perce Chief
Joseph, Apache leader Geronimo, and a host of others. But by the
time he’d published many of his images in his 20-volume
The North American Indian – a project that took
from 1904 to 1930 to complete – his subjects had fallen from
popular interest. And by the onset of the Great Depression, few
people could afford the costly tomes.
Then in
1972, a Boston bookstore clerk stumbled upon a collection of
Curtis’ glass negatives, hand-etched copper plates and hundreds of
yellowing photographs. What followed was a Curtis revival, during
which his photographs became both renowned and
controversial.
Curtis occasionally posed
individuals from unrelated tribes in the same ceremonial shirts or
war bonnets, and he sometimes used overly romantic postures. Franz
Boas was among the academics who criticized these methods, even
though the famed ethnographer sometimes used similar tactics.
Native Americans passionately differed as to whether Curtis
exploited Indian people or created a valuable record of their
cultures.
Now
there are two new works that revisit the life and work of the
Minnesota farm boy turned pre-eminent
photographer.
In Edward Sheriff Curtis:
Visions of a Vanishing Race, the photographer’s daughter,
Florence Curtis Graybill, and Victor Boesen have released 175 of
Curtis’ classic photographs. The book is a frank and intimate
journey into the worlds that Edward Curtis and his family
experienced.
Equally intimate is Coming
to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American
Indians, a documentary film from Anne Makepeace.
Makepeace interviews many descendants of Curtis’ subjects with the
same trusting and honest demeanor that Curtis is said to have used
with his subjects. The film is as much a continuation of Curtis’
work as it is a biography.
Copyright © 2001 HCN and JT
Thomas
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
