Customer Reviews

Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture)

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For those who have long admired Curtis' classic photos of Native Americans, but who have wondered to know more about Curtis himself, Gidley provides good background. He laboriously traces Curtis' life and habits. The prediliction for outdoors living is a constant theme of the book. Combined with his skills at photography. We see early experiences in studio photography. But Curtis seemed (luckily to history) to find that somewhat confining.

His subsequent travels throughout the American West brought his interests and talents into sharp focus. Letting him document what was believed to be a dying way of life. Which was perhaps largely true. Most of the natives in his photographs were no longer the plains nomads of American folklore.

This book does not reproduce many of Curtis' photos. Largely because you can find those elsewhere. Gidley concentrates on the details of his life.

This is an excellent series of discussions of the many different aspects of E.S. Curtis and his photographic and ethnographic project on the North American Indian. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in both background history of Curtis and his project, as well as an interesting interpretive perspective on Curtis and his work.

Gidley is cynical, pompous and likes to hear himself talk. Gidley reaches conclusions and represents facts based on inconclusive historical evidence such as newspaper stories from the days of Curtis's work. Unfortunately he doesn't tell us much about Curtis the man or the experiences Curtis had while assembling his body of work on North American Indians. Gidley writes with a lack of respect and lack of appreciation for what Curtis accomplished. There is no information about Curtis's photography or appreciation for Curtis's incredible body of work or the financial and physical challenges Curtis undertook. Gidley is an English Professor from Leeds, England who attempts to portray himself as an expert in anthropology, ethnology, art, photography and the history of North American Indians and their culture. Unfortunately this book fails to impress and instead reads like a boring academic dissertation or master's thesis. If you are looking for a good biography of Curtis or a story about his work this is not the book to read.