EDWARD S. CURTIS AND THE REALLY BIG DREAM

Transcription

1

2 EDWARD S. CURTIS AND THE REALLY BIG DREAM ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT 20TH-CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHER AND ETHNOLOGIST, AND THE LANDMARK REPUBLICATION OF HIS MASTERWORK, WE TALK ABOUT THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF EDWARD S. CURTIS WITH NOTED EXPERT CHRISTOPHER CARDOZO. By Darren Quintenz 9! FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018

3 HE PASSING OF EVERY MAN AND WOMAN MEANS THE PASSING OF SOME TRADITION, SOME KNOWLEDGE of sacred rights possessed by no ocher.'' So said photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis, and he proved his conviction by devoting his life co creating a pioneering artistic ethnographic record of the orth American Indian as a hedge against what he feared was their imminent demise. In 1900 Curtis began a 30-year odyssey co photograph and document the lives and traditions of the acive peoples of North America. The New York Herald declared the monumental project "the most gigantic undertaking since the making of the King James edition of the Bible:' vvith The North A111erira11 Indian, Curtis achieved the seemingly impossible: an extraordinary 20-volume, 20-portfolio set of handmade books composed of nearly 4,000 pages of text and more than 2,000 images presenting more than 80 of orch America's Native nations. Christopher Cardozo, in turn, has devoted the last 45 years to preserving and dissemjnacing Curtis' work. Cardozo first discovered his work in 1973 and since then has authored nine books on the photographer, built che world's largest collection of his work, and sent Curtis exhibitions co more than 40 countries. Cardozo is widely recognized as the leading authority on the body of work. This year he's helping to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Curtis' birth with exhibitions, symposiums, lectures, and ocher events across che United States. early three years ago, he enjisted a large group of artisans to do a limited-edition artisanal re-creation of The North Ameriran Indian, Curtis' magnum opus, which Cardozo expects to be completed in March. C&I spoke with Cardozo about Curtis' landmark achievement and why we're still drawn co those "luminous, iconic, and profoundly revealing" photographs chat continue to shape che way we sec ative life and culture. OPPOSITE PAGE: P1egan Encampment, THIS PAGE: Mosa - Mohave, Qahatika Girl, COWBOYS c'<' INDIANS 93

4 Cowboys & J ndians: Curtis' childhood didn't provide a11 a11spicious start, but it ta11ght him to be seif-relia11t and persiste11t. ( IH"istophcr ( imfozo: So true. He was born in 1868 and grew up in abject poverty in rural vvisconsin and Minnesota. His father was a poor itinerant preacher and che family was continually impoverished. Curris was schooled only until the sixth grade. Bue he scraped rogether S 1.25 ro buy a lens and build his own camera when he was only 12. He loved photography, and by rhe time he was in his lace teens he and his f-:111,ily had moved co rural washingcon state. He soon mortgaged the family farm co buy a half interest in a phoro scudio in Seattle, which, as the gateway co the Yukon, was a boomcown. Wichin a few more years, Curtis had become sole owner of the most successful porrrait studio in the Pacific 1orchwest. C& I: Was there a particular event that set him 011 his path to The North American Indian? (.irdozo: In 1898 a number of luminaries f r om the East Coast establishment rook a great interest in his early work. That led to an invitation to be the official photographer of a major scientific expedition to Alaska in This was a watershed experience for Curtis as he spent nearly three months with some of the greatest scientists, naturalists, and environmentalists in the world. Among them was George Bird Grinnell, who asked Curtis ro accompany him che following summer to live among che Blackfeet and Piegan in Montana. There, during the summer of 1900, he was with acive people who were still following traditional ways. For the first time he heard personal stories, learned about sacred beliefs, and witnessed great ceremonies chat were being outlawed b y che U.S. go\ ernment. As a human being and as an artist, he was profoundly transformed by his experiences chat summer. Because he was with Grinnell, who had lived with chem for 20 seasons, he had unheard-of access to che most intimate and sacred details of rl,eir lives. In the fi\ e years he'd been photographing lative people prior to I 900, I 9 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 Chief Joseph - Nez Perce, Lummi Type, 1899.

5

6

7

8

9

10

11