Edward S. Curtis “wanted to document a way of life that he thought might be erased by the spread of white civilization and industrialization. With his photographs, Curtis told a friend, ‘I want to make [American Indians] live forever.’” This detailed biography focuses on this work, which became a twenty-volume set entitled The North American Indian. After photographing a Suquamish woman known as Princess Angeline in 1895, Curtis spent the next thirty years traveling from the Great Plains to Alaska to record tribes living in the northern and western United States. Filled with striking reproductions of his now-famous sepia and black-and-white photographs, the narrative discusses Curtis’s attitudes toward his subjects, his methods for setting up and taking his pictures, and his difficulties in getting funding for his project. The book also addresses criticisms of Curtis’s work. Each chapter incorporates a relevant sidebar (a particularly interesting one focuses on the views of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a supporter of Curtis’s), and a map shows the locations of various Native American tribes. Back matter includes a time line, glossary, suggestions for further reading, a link to publisher-selected resources, critical thinking questions using the Common Core, source notes, select bibliography, and an index.
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Series Review
These latest additions in this series are every bit as excellent as their predecessors. With The Golden Spike, Nardo explores the work of photographer Andrew J. Russell during the building of the transcontinental railroad. In addition to describing the mind-boggling obstacles faced by Russell and his team (toting equipment that was expensive, delicate, and cumbersome; the effects of the elements), Nardo frames the narrative within the wider story of Manifest Destiny, the destruction of nature, and the displacement of Native Americans. With Shadow Catcher, Burgan chronicles ethnologist and photographer Edward S. Curtis’s commitment to chronicling the daily life of several Native American tribes for his massive book The North American Indian. Both books feature well-written and accessible text, but it is the stunning photography that will keep readers entranced. VERDICT Informative and downright gorgeous.