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| Edward Curtis is one
of the most well recognized photographers of Native Americans.
Curtis was born near Whitewater, Wisconsin in 1868. He became
interested in photography as a young child and even built his
own camera. By 1896, he was established as one of the foremost
studio photographers and had become the sole owner of a successful
photography studio in Seattle, Washington. He became the official
photographer of the Edward E. Harriman Expedition in 1899 after
meeting anthropologist George Bird Grinnell and Dr. C. Hart Merriam,
Chief of the U.S. Biological Survey. His interest in Native Americans
culminated in the North American Indian project, a twenty-volume
set of ethnographic information illustrated with photo-engravings
taken from his glass plate negatives. He is also known for his Orotones,
or goldtone prints, which were praised for their beauty and stability. Curtis wanted the North American Indian to be the most comprehensive illustration of the spirit of the Native Americans. For thirty years, he visited more than eighty tribes throughout the nation documenting their customs and traditions in over 40,000 photographs and 10,000 recordings of Native American music and language. He believed that these communities were losing their identity and their culture needed to be preserved before they vanished. Vanishing Race – Navaho embodied this idea and Curtis selected it for his first volume of prints in 1907.  (For Grades 4-6) Can you tell when this picture was taken? What visual clues tell you about the time period? How is the title reflected in the action of the photograph? How is the illusion of “vanishing” created? Is the mood of this photograph positive or negative? Explain. (For Grades 4-6) How does this image embody the idea that these communities were losing their identity and culture? Would the photograph have the same impact if it was taken from a different vantage point? Why? How would you capture your own culture in a single photograph? How would it illustrate your culture? |
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Edward Sheriff Curtis United States 1868-1952 Vanishing Race – Navaho Orotone, 1906 Collection Museum of Photographic Arts Gift of the Schutz Family 2001.022.006 © Museum of Photographic Arts |
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