The North American Indian: The Complete Portfolios - Softcover

Curtis, Edward S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3822810398 ISBN 13: 9783822810392

Publisher: Taschen America Llc, 1997

Synopsis

At the turn of the century, the American photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868?1952) started on his thirty-year project to produce a monumental study of North American Indians. Using an approach that was both artistically and scientifically ambitious he recorded, in words and pictures, the traces of the traditional Indian way of life that was already beginning to die out. With tireless personal commitment Curtis visited American Indian tribes from the Mexican border to the Bering Straits, gaining their confidence by his patience and sensitivity. This, his photographic life's work, was printed in 20 volumes between 1907 and 1930 as The North American Indian. There were only 272 copies in total, so original copies are now extremely rare. This book gives lasting life to Curtis's great achievements by making the photographs available again.

About this title

Review:

Originally used to illustrate a 20-volume encyclopedia of Native American history and culture, these photographs from the first decades of the 20th century are a valuable document of history. From a striking 1905 portrait of Geronimo to the seal-hunting Eskimos of Nunivak Island, Edward S. Curtis's pictures reflect the diversity of cultures that existed among the various Indian tribes. Their quality is superb--Curtis used the then-state-of-the-art photogravure process to reproduce his images--and the 1906 critique from Theodore Roosevelt remains valid: "In Mr. Curtis we have both an artist and a trained observer ... whose work has far more than mere accuracy, because it is truthful."

About the Author:

The author: Hans Christian Adam (born 1948) works as a photographic consultant in Gottingen. He has published many articles and some books on photography, including TASCHEN's monograph on Karl Blossfeldt.

About this edition

• Publisher: Taschen America Llc
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 3822810398
• ISBN 13: 9783822810392
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 768