The Old Dog Presents: Monochrome Master. The Great Edward S. Curtis
One of the walls of my home is adorned with art and photographs of native North Americans. These works include a series of photographs by the late great Edward S. Curtis.
Edward S. Curtis 1868-1952. Photo Credit
Who was Edward S. Curtis?
Edward S. Curtis was born in Wisconsin USA in 1868 and in 1885, at the age of 17 he became an apprentice photographer. His fascination with the indigenous people of North America began in 1895 when he met and photographed the aged Princess Angeline (Kickisomlo) who was the daughter of Chief Sealth of Seattle.
Princess Angeline. Photo Credit
In 1889 Curtis was appointed as the official photographer of the Harriman Alaska Expedition. As a result of his photographic work on this expedition he was invited on an expedition to photograph members of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Montana in 1900.
In 1906, J.P. Morgan hired Curtis, paying him $75,000 to produce a series of photographs of Native Americans. This project, which lasted more than 20 years, resulted in over 40,000 photographs of over 80 tribes.
During this period of time he and other members of his team also made more than 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of native languages, recorded tribal stories and history and described their housing, clothing, food, customs and ceremonies!
The work of Edward S. Curtis sells for record prices today but he died as an almost unknown photographer! Why does that happen so often!
If you'd like to see more of Edward S. Curtis's photography you can find many images on line by doing a simple search.
Here is a 10 Minute Video About Curtis From "The Economist"
Here is a Link Where You Can See a Short Video Explaining The Smithsonian Institute's Recent Acquisition of Hundreds of His Very Rare Negatives
If you are a fan of monochrome photography and especially portraits, you may enjoy exploring the work of Edward S. Curtis.
In the meantime don't hesitate to make a post for Monochrome Monday which is the brainchild of @old-guy-photos!
What About You?
- Do you enjoy monochrome photography?
- Do you enter posts in the various photography categories here on Steemit?
- Do you like looking at old photographs?
I hope that you enjoyed this short article about the "The Great Edward S. Curtis"!
Until next time,
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
Wow, I was highly aware of the fact that he was an incredible photographer as I often had the occasion of seeing his pictures and even some books based on his work. But I was oblivious to the fact that "his team also made more than 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of native languages, recorded tribal stories and history and described their housing, clothing, food, customs and ceremonies!". Outstanding corpus of knowledge, really! It was worth every penny and then some, as we say.
Thanks a lot for sharing this precious information as well as exposing us to the Monochrome Monday Challenge. I have always strongly believed that an image contains much more than a thousand words and have always been fascinated by them, even the old ones ripped up in one corner, black & white or monochrome. as I get older, I am even more interested by them and can't come to underline how precious these documents are to me or come to evaluate the wealth of their relevance for the future generations as we borrow our lives from the ones yet to come...
Namaste :)
Thanks so much for your appreciative comment! He certainly left a treasure store of information about the native North Americans of that time!
Hey Old Dog!
Yesterday I was watching the cards of Edward Curtis!!!!
Siamo connessi misticamente!
Wow! Where did you get those?
My mother-in-law brought them from her recent trip to the Wild West ;-)
Ciao ciao Lucas
Looks like you can get them on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Native-American-Playing-Edward-Curtis/dp/0982123280
It's interesting to see a few photos taken by someone with genuine interest and care for the First peoples, rather than the usual exploitative photos or carnival-like tours they used to force on them. Maybe I'm just casting my own imagination on them, but these images look "real."
Thanks, and it's been a while, so hi too! (I needed a break.) Hope all is well and you have a happy and sweet new year with your family and friends :)
Wow, so great to "see" you. Yes he sure became dedicated to chronicling the native people and his work was complete when he travelled to the artic and photographed the eskimos who were still "untouched" by their eventual oppressors. He was elated to find happy smiling faces there!
Dang it! If you can see me, then I gotta get dressed when I sit here steeming with my (version of) cheetos!!
Smiling faces... I would absolutely love to hear what people from that time and context, and such disparate places, would make of our world today. Could you imagine that warrior looking fellow eating cheetos? Omg, I'm such a...
Cool
I Love old photographs. I have many in my cedar chest that I probably ought to scan and maybe frame. I am learning monochrome editing right now and have found it interesting that the colors like red or green can been lightened or darkened in sepia tones or black and white. It's amazing what we can do in a photo edit. I might enter something in one of the contests but I want to wait until I feel more confident with my results.
The story you shared is quite beautiful and gentle. I do tend to romanticize history although I am aware it was less than gentle to live through it.
I love the photos you shared - the Princess has so many stories in her eyes and facial lines. I see pain and pride in the unknown native's face.
Thanks so much for your great comment. It's cool that you are experimenting with photo editing and it would be a good idea to frame your pictures.
I'm a little nervous about framing some of them. I'll have to find out the safest way to do it. I have pictures from the 1800's. Seriously. My "to do" list is pretty long as it is :) You know that tv show "Who Do You Think You Are?" I'd love to present some of the history I have and find out whose who and where their from, what they did etc.
Thanks again for such a great post. I really enjoyed it.
Interesting. I like this sort of photography for portraits. It makes you look noble and dignified.
Hey man you always look noble! Thanks for the comment!
Thank you for the compliment!
Wow @kus-knee, your home seems to be a must see art Museum! 😎
I love art especially when it is such deep rich history.
Thanks for the info... looking forward for your next art post!
Yes and I'm turning into a living antique!
And the more valuable you WILL Become!💪😎
very Nice. And Yes i like photograpy. Check out my blogs 👍😉
Thanks for the visit.
I was familiar with his photography-- I had no idea about the recordings; that's a truly amazing wealth of knowledge. I assume they are in safe preservation at the Smithsonian or some other major museum? It's irreplaceable information... the world has changed so much since then that even the oral traditions of history would no longer keep all the details intact.
Very interesting post-- thank you!
My sister gave me some of his photos years ago and I only found out about the recordings when researching for this post. You can hear some of them on YouTube
He did a work that has no value, since he saved custume and culture that are almost lost... I do like old pics, the photographer of the past where frequently artists, explorer and adventurer at the same time!
Yes they truly were explorers!