Born in 1882, Richard Throssel was a North American Indian, of Cree heritage, and an adopted Crow. He was also an accomplished commercial photographer. Throssel lived on the Crow Reservation from 1902 to 1911 and undertook a vast personal effort to photograph the people and places there. He made more than a thousand photographs, thus effectively creating a visual census of the Crows. Despite this prolific and historically significant output, Throssel's work has received little attention.
In Crow Indian Photographer, Peggy Albright deftly combines biographical detail with an overview of Richard Throssel's photographic legacy. In addition to his Crow photographs, Throssel photographed Northern Cheyenne ceremonies that were prohibited by government regulation.
The first book-length publication devoted to the photographer's life and work, Crow Indian Photographer provides a compelling look at the photographer, his work, and the culture in which he lived. The book includes commentaries on the photographs by present-day Crow people.
