A new Patagonia Library exhibit highlights American photographer Edward S. Curtis, whose 20-volume set of plates and narrative on the Native Americans was lauded in the 1910s, but then languished in rare book rooms and the publisher’s basement until their discovery in 1972.
One of the four fantastic Curtis books the library has on display—and the only one not available for checkout—is “Portraits from North American Indian Life,” measuring 18 by 14.5 inches and containing over 80 large images on heavy paper. These portraits and “slice of life” photos are a rich look into the world Curtis captured for posterity.
One of the two biographies in the collection, “Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher” by Timothy Egan, fleshes out the details of Curtis’s life and exciting work.
Curtis’s first attempt at memorializing native peoples was his 1895 photograph of the daughter of Chief Sealth of Seattle. Moved by a fervent desire to chronicle traditional Native American life before its certain disappearance, over the next 30 years Curtis spent months at a time away from his wife and children as he studied, befriended and photographed tribal peoples from the Nunivak of Alaska to the Hopi of New Mexico. Although much of his research was funded by financier J.P. Morgan, Curtis died in 1952 with his work largely unknown.
As Library Clerk Anne Vogt observed, “When you see a portrait that shows such intimacy, you know the photographer or painter has spent the time and earned the trust of their subject.” That couldn’t be truer than in the case of Edward Curtis. Come check out this gorgeous display, and take one of the books home with you.