Rhinoceros: Reading - A People's Art History of the United States by Nicolas Lampert

Photographing the Past During the Present !

As an aspiring photographer I totally understand the idea of me in charge of the image, manipulating what I want people to see. It remind me the wisdom words of my color photography professor Richard LaBarbera "LaBarbi" he was always suggesting that if you need to stage your frame in order to achieve success you should definitely do it. Photographers  document their world thru their photos, is a way to unconscious state your opinion.

During 1890 and 1930 Native Americans were in the middle of this transition, putting them in a vanishing situation. What if they disappear and we do not have records of this civilization? In the other side Native American subject matter was valuable enough to make this documentation expensive  for only a privilege group of bankers and prominent people to have access to it. Even if most of Curtis photographs were stage I do not think we should dismiss his work; he was trying to reconstruct traditions and a lifestyle that modernity and colonialism sadly destroy. 

Curtis had to respect tribal beliefs such as a camera being consider a "shadow catcher", making his photography duties difficult. A photographer has to know its boundaries, you do not want to ruin the experience for the community or denote negative ideas for the art itself. If you are an insider like Richard Throssel you might have a better opportunity of success since your community will support you and your art. 

Photography is a powerful tool to aware, to teach; and eye opener or a type of activism. I do not agree with Throssel changing his images into "Curtis Mold" in order to sell his work; he wanted fame but his realistic images were more valuable than no one else because he was allowed to be present and capture the life, precious moments in the Crow tribe. Curtis and Throssel used different methods to portrait Native Americans, both tried to document a community of vanishing people and culture to leave a legacy in the United States art history. 

This reading make me explore Curtis and Throssel photography. Now I a curious about the whole content of  Lampert book. Also, gave me an idea of how personally I want to approach my Andean culture and my Mestiza heritage in my artistic vision. 

"Pretty Bird" Richard Throssel

"Dakota Sioux" Edward S. Curtis