Edward S. Curtis: Visions of the First Americans (Hardcover)

~ DON GULBRANDSEN (Author)
Key Phrases: shoulders portrait, related tribes, Curtis Collection, Library of Congress, Photographs Division (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The book includes many regions, tribes and ages of people, and in some ways even some of the more negative aspects of his photographs are invaluable because they informed much of the mainstream American (worldwide, really) mythology that surrounds First Nations peoples of North America. The photos are somewhere between documentary and romanticism. Where he could have taken straight documentary photos of poverty and tattered Western/white clothing, he instead staged warrior meetings on horseback and the like.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chartwell Books, Inc. (October 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785821147
• ISBN-13: 978-0785821144
• Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 11.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #115,902 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A coffee-table book people will pick up, August 2, 2008

By	Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book includes photographs and/or information on the Apache, Jicarilla, Navajo, Pima, Papago, Qahatika, Mohave, Yuma, Maricopa, Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Teton Sioux, Yanktonai, Assiniboin, Apsaroke, Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara, Atsina, Piegan, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Yakima, Klickitat, Salishan, Kutenai, Nex Perces, Kwakiutl, Nootka, Haida, Hopi, Hupa, Yurok, Karok, Wiyot, Tolowa, Tututni, Shasta, Achomawi, Klamath, Kato, Wailaki, Yuki, Pomo, Wintun, Maidu, Miwok, Yokuts, Dieguenos, Washo, Tiwa, Keres, Tewa, Zuni, Chipewyan, Cree, Sarsi, Wichita, Cheyenne, Oto, Comanche, Peyote Cult, Nunivak, Eskimos of various bays, islands and capes, as well as others.

I found this book shortly after Christmas of 2007. There may be larger or multi-volume offerings of Edward S. Curtis' photographs, I'm not sure, but this is a very nice one at an affordable price. The background history does not treat him blindly as a hero or villain. It illustrates both his faults and better attributes. The book mentions pictures that are staged, as in the case of Red Dog on page 66. Curtis described the Sioux as living in terrible poverty on the reservation when he photographed them, but one would not know that from the regal photo of Red Dog that clearly points back towards much better times.

The book includes many regions, tribes and ages of people, and in some ways even some of the more negative aspects of his photographs are invaluable because they informed much of the mainstream American (worldwide, really) mythology that surrounds First Nations peoples of North America. The photos are somewhere between documentary and romanticism. Where he could have taken straight documentary photos of poverty and tattered Western/white clothing, he instead staged warrior meetings on horseback and the like. In one sense though, even those seem valuable to me. Not so much as historical data from, say, 1903 when a given photo was taken, but just in the sense that these were the sorts of scenes that the older people in and around these photos would have remembered from their youth.

There are a couple famous faces, such as a lesser-known photo of Red Cloud. You'll also see men who were there at the Battle of the Greasy Grass... er... Little Bighorn.

Curtis' work will always be viewed historically as having good and bad aspects. His work now (even the pay-offs, etc...) is part of American history, and that makes this book important for those of us who can't afford something huge, or whose libraries don't have big collections of the original volumes. One way or the other (and I would guess both), the book will move you.

The paper, binding and cover are all very nice. It feels like a quality book that belies the fact that it's only $20ish for such a big, hardcover book.

I wish there was some way that books like this filtered money back into the communities today. This is by a UK publisher and printed in Hong Kong. At least you can also pick up the fantastic, original "homeland security. Fighting terrorism since 1492" shirts at the westwindworld site where the money does go where you'd like it to go.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Edward S. Curtis: Visions of the First Americans, August 9, 2008

By	B. A. Leonard (Parachute,. CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great book! Photograhs are rich with history. Presents Native Americans as they were. Gives a hope for the future. It is a BIG, heavy book. Not for lap reading, but an excellent resource for any home library.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Photographs, Mostly Posed, August 3, 2008

By	gotta love the Cretaceous period - See all my reviews

This 16 3/4 X 12 inch book with sewn binding and semi-gloss pages with 2 large photos on each page is a great value. At 256 pages, one would think the paper itself would cost more than the book price. Selected from a vast series of photographs Curtis took near the end of America's Westward Expansion, the book includes a biographical account of Curtis himself and a brief description of the American political context in which Curtis made the photographs. This description is insufficient in relaying the impact of all the treaties broken by the American govt. in the course of removing the Indians from their lands and their means of existence. The book points out that Curtis often had to ask his subjects to don their traditional garb for the photograph because by the early 1900s many wore the same clothes as European-Americans. THIS IS NOT A STAND-ALONE BOOK; it provides a rare and rich visual account by a former studio photographer who spent thirty years trying to capture the sympathy of white Americans on behalf of the people they had recently nearly killed off. For that reason, and because Curtis considered himself to be documenting the death of a race, the emphasis is on the past, the "heyday" of Native American cultures. No doubt naivete on Curtis's part, it served well the need of Congress to obliterate the fact that Indians still exist and want justice. Thus the book can also be read as a portrait of good intentions and their insufficiency when they privilege the values of the reigning culture. At least read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee in conjunction with this book. Within these constraints, the photographs are stunning.