Customer Reviews

Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been awaiting publication of this book for several months, and I am very disappointed. Listing the book as "by" Barton Wright is a bit misleading. Wright's expertise on Hopi and Zuni katsinas is well established, but this book seems to be the work of the photographer Andrea Portago, whose knowledge about katsinas is far less clear. I have great respect for Barton Wright, former director of the Museum of Northern Arizona and a leading expert on katsinas. His contribution to the book, however, seems to be limited to the reprinting a fine essay he wrote 20 years ago as part of a series on the Iconography of Religions (a work on Pueblo Cultures) published in the Netherlands by E.J. Brill in 1986.

The book is not user-friendly, especially for novices on the subject of katsinas. Of its 174 pages, the first 130 pages are not numbered and consist of photographs of katsinas (in full color) or Southwest landscapes (all photographed in black and white). No plate numbers are given on the pages, and the photos provide no scale or sense of size of the katsina. Many of the photographs are not appropriately centered, and there are only about four or five different backgrounds for all the katsinas photographed. One must go to the back of the volume to find the "Illustrated List of Plates," which provides descriptive information on each photograph. However, since there are no page or plate numbers in the body of the book, one must tediously page back and forth to match the information with the specific photographs.

If you are obsessive about katsinas, like I am, and you want to make your personal library as comprehensive as possible when it comes to books about Hopi and Zuni katsinas, you might consider purchase of this book. Be forewarned, however, that it provides no new information on the topic, and the poor organization of the book makes it difficult to use. On the other hand, the book does contain a number of interesting katsinas, carved between the 1880s to the 1940s, so you might consider it on that basis. This work is not for the novice--and yes, while I was disappointed, I won't be sending it back.

The essence of any Pueblo Kachina (Katsina) is determined in no small way by its mask (as well as by the ritual drama in which it appears). And while there are many kachina books in print, this volume by Portago and Wright emphasizes the doll's mask more than most other volumes. The Wright essay is one of his best and not easy for the layperson to find, so its printing here is especially useful. What Portago's kachina-doll photos bring to the fore is the aspect of an artist at home on either side of the camera--as a model and as the photographer. Finally, this group of kachina dolls is wonderful!

This book has one strength. The photos are excellent - at least in terms of the antique katsinam themselves. Ms. Portago's decision to photograph the carvings on metal backgrounds is odd to say the least. The essay in the back by Barton Wright is insightful but is not linked to the text. It was written many years ago.

I find one minor detail in this book to be quite annoying. Ms. Portago's bio on the jacket is twice as long as Barton Wright's. Mr. Wright is the most extensively published author on Hopi culture ever. Ms. Portago is a former model, a contessa, and a sometime photographer. That feels incongruous to me.

As one unfamiliar with Kachina figures and their history, I was fascinated with Andrea Portago's book. I was taken with the professionalism of the book - the wonderful photography and the knowledgeable presentation of the subject. It was a most rewarding reading, taking me on a delightful journey into the Hopi and Zuni cultures.

I too have waited for a long time for Ms Portago's book of photographs of Kachina figurines but, quite contrary to the last reviewer, I could'nt have been more delighted with the finished product. It is absolutely delightful. One must have a dead 'scholar's eye' not to be able to see the love and humor with which she has invested these little painted fabrications of wood, clay, cloth and feathers. They laugh at us with glee or, like Goyescas, shriek with horror from out of the pages of her book. Through her gorgeous colored photography she has breathed life and personality into her beloved subjects just as did that fine lineage of photographers from which she is derived. And as for her instinct to intersperse the glory of her colored images with severe black and white photos, in the manner of Anselm Adams, of the epic Southwest landscape from which these effigies derive, like putting salt on melon this was sheer genius.
The book is a treasure, for which I thank you, Andrea. On receiving my copy I ran right out and bought copies for all my friends. I urge you to do the same.

A nice coffee table and reference book with good photos of old dolls and landscapes. There is a major error in the preface re: the coming and going of Kachinas. Barton Wright is "The Man" - the Kachina Expert. His extensive comments were written in 1986 which of course does not make them any less valuable, just not current. Takes some real concentration and re-reading, but if you like the concept of Kachina's and Kachina dolls... a good book!

This book is a MUST for the expert and the novice. The images that Andrea Portago captured in her photographs were works of art. She is truly talented!!

This is a wonderful -- and wonderfully photographed -- book and a valued addition to my collection of books on kachinas.