Synopses & Reviews
It is thus near to Nature that much of the life of the Indian still is; hence its story, rather than being replete with statistics of commercial conquests, is a record of the Indian's relations with and his dependence on the phenomena of the universe--the trees and shrubs, the sun and stars, the lightning and rain--for these to him are animate creatures. Even more than that, they are deified, therefore are revered and propitiated, since upon them man must depend for his well being.
--Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indians
Between 1896 and 1930, Edward S. Curtis documented Native Americans and their way of life in the western United States and British Columbia. His efforts resulted in a 20-volume visual record accompanied by text--a document unequaled in the history of photography. 68 photographs from the original collection have been selected for this Aperture book; the result is a compilation of Curtis' best-known images documenting the Native American way of life.
Joseph Epes Brown, author of The Sacred Pipe and The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian, has written an insightful introduction, and has also selected texts to accompany the photographs to suggest the quality of mood and message that Curtis wanted to convey.
Synopsis
A new edition of an Aperture Classic. From 1896 to 1930, Edward S. Curtis traveled throughout the United States, making a vivid record of the Native American peoples and their way of life. He became, after a long immersion in the cultures and traditions of the Native Americans, an adopted son of Black Elk. The North American Indians, as the project was named, comprised twenty volumes of text each accompanied by a portfolio of plates. It is a visual record unequaled in the history of photography. Many of the most significant photographs have been selected for this Aperture book. These remarkable images of the Native American people and their homes, villages, and landscape reveal how their lives were molded by the integrity of nature and by the rich traditional values of their culture. 68 Black-and-White Duotone Photographs
Synopsis
Between 1896 and 1930, Edward S. Curtis documented Native Americans and their way of life in the western United States and British Columbia. His efforts resulted in a twenty-volume visual record accompanied by text—a document unequaled in the history of photography.
Sixty-eight photographs from the original collection have been selected for this Aperture book; the result is a compilation of Curtis’s best-known images documenting the Native American way of life, molded by rich traditional values centered on nature and the universe.