DAY 83

FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS

Edward Curtis (1868–1952)

SHADOWCATCHER

Edward Curtis, photographer of the American West, spent 30 years documenting the traditional life of Native Americans. His life’s work, The North American Indian, led him to create over 40,000 images in a 20-volume set, with 20 large-format portfolios, amassed from visits to over 80 tribes, ranging from the Inuit to the Hopi of the Southwest. His beautiful, gold-toned sepia prints, also known as “Curt-Tones,” captured the likenesses of notable figures, such as Geronimo, Chief Joseph, Red Cloud, and Medicine Crow.

In 1898, while photographing on Mount Rainier, he discovered a party of lost scientists, including George Bird Grinnell, a renowned expert on Native Americans. Grinnell soon invited him on an expedition to photograph the Blackfoot Indians, where he taught Curtis systematic methods of acquiring scientifically valid information. Two weeks later, Curtis began his own project, with the goal of covering all aspects of Native American life and lore, most importantly mythology and spiritual practices.

Curtis painstakingly researched his subjects; his efforts to achieve immense depth of understanding earned him the name of “shadow-catcher,” and tribal leaders began to invite him to visit their tribes, so as not to be left out of his historical documentation.¹ The work often meant grueling travel and inhospitable conditions, but Curtis felt strongly about photographing in natural settings, although some critics argue that he may have staged some of his images. In many cases, his material is the only recorded history in existence. —GC