For more info on Edward Curtis, or more examples of his work, please visit the links below:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/edward-curtis/shadow-catcher/568/
http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu
http://www.edwardscurtis.com
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Edward Curtis
Edward Curtis, also known as "Shadow Catcher" was an american photographer active between 1900 and 1930. His biggest focus was taking photographs of American Indians. He took photos of men and women from over eighty different tribes, including Eskimos, Inuits, and Hopis. Curtis wanted to record and photograph as much of the peoples' traditional life as possible. Aside from the photos, he recorded over ten thousand wax cylinders of the tribal language and music. He took over 40,000 images of the tribes before he died in october of 1952 of a heart attack. Below are some examples of his work.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/edward-curtis/shadow-catcher/568/
http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu
http://www.edwardscurtis.com
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/edward-curtis/shadow-catcher/568/
http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu
http://www.edwardscurtis.com
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I love his photographs, but keep in mind they were staged and often not an accurate portrayal of the person's Indian National dress. He traveled with a trunk load of artifacts and if the person's national dress wasn't "native' enough he had them put on some other nation's clothing. Imagine what an important historical resource this would be if he hadn't done that. However, he did one very important thing, he gave a disenfranchised people importance, dignity, and visibility. Europeans in the east didn't know the native population in this way, until Curtis they were seen as savage beasts. I guess we have to accept the good with the bad.
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