Photographer of the Week

Edward Sherrif Curtis

Edward S. Curtis was born on February 16th 1868 to Ellen Sherrif and Johnson Curtis. He had one brother, Asahel Curtis. He married Clara Philips in 1874 and their marriage lasted through 4 children (Florence, Katherine, Harold and Elizabeth) until 1932. Curtis grew up in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and there was no Native American influence in his early years. He built his camera from an old lens his father had and $1.25 worth of other parts, and at 17 moved to St. Paul where he worked as a photographer apprentice. By 1896 he had become a well established studio photographer. In 1877 Curtis moved to Washington where he began his quest of documenting Native American culture, starting with the natives that lived along Seattle's waterfront. Between 1900 and 1915 he spent most of his time devoted to photographing the natives and in 1914 published his book "The Native American Indian" which consisted of 700 large portfolio images, 1500 smaller images and 7000 pages worth of text. He also filmed a few documentaries during this time, "In the Land of War Canoes", "Seeing America", and "The Alaskan Indians"

My favorite image by Curtis is his Kwakiutl House-Frame image (shown below.) After coming into contact with this original print, I did some of my own research (with some help from my mom) and I fell in love with this image as it is close to relatives. Not only that but the framing of the image and unique "looking out" angle has a strong connection to me as a photographer and really shows a different perspective. 

Here is a link to his website: https://www.edwardscurtis.com/

Here is a link to the video "Coming to Light", a documentary about his work and the controversy behind it: www.snagfilms.com/films/title/coming_to_light_the_edward_s_curtis_story.

Kwakiutl House-Frame

Here is a link: https://img0.etsystatic.com/050/0/8613319/il_570xN.700913418_bjpk.jpg

Here is a list of my cited sources:

“Edward S. Curtis Gallery.” Large Prints | Edward S. Curtis Gallery, Shasta.com, www.edwardscurtis.com/prints/large-prints/.

“Edward Curtis Biography.” Edward Curtis, CHRISTOPHER CARDOZO FINE ART, edwardcurtis.com/edward-curtis/curtis-biography/.

“Coming To Light: The Edward S. Curtis Story.” 2001 SnagFilms Watch Free Streaming Movies Online, www.snagfilms.com/films/title/coming_to_light_the_edward_s_curtis_story.