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religious ceremonies.They also produced Curtis s undertaking required consider-
compelling photographs of street and alley able financial support, which he found in
life in and around the region.Many of their funding supplied by one of the world s rich-
depictions were of men, women, and chil- est men, the industrialist and banker J.
dren whose customs and dress were little Pierpont Morgan.Armed with this financ-
removed from biblical times, as in their pic- ing, Curtis visited more than 80 tribes and
ture of shepherds watching their flock. took more than 40,000 photographs. He
In their determination to capture gained the confidence of each of the tribes
images of the diverse peoples of the world, by spending months studying its history and
many photographers, in the last half of the customs before attempting to photograph its
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P H O T O G R A P H Y / A N I L L U S T R A T E D H I S T O R Y " 5 2
members.Working with a large 14-by-17-
inch camera, he captured both portraits and
scenes of the Native Americans dwellings,
dress,customs,and rituals.
Curtis s work brought him high praise,
but he also received significant criticism. In
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several instances, particularly in pho-
tographing the tribes of the Pacific North-
west, he dressed the Native Americans in
wigs and provided them with other trap-
pings of their earlier days that had vanished
in the face of the intruding white civiliza-
tion. It was a practice that disturbed those
who felt that in doing so Curtis had falsi-
fied his representation of the Native Ameri-
cans. Curtis s reply was that his only interest
was in presenting the first Americans as
they were before their way of life had been
destroyed by those coveting their lands. It
was one of the first instances when the as the most gigantic undertaking in the Elizabeth Ellen Roberts.Young
woman at a water pump,North
reality of the camera s ability to misrepre- publishing of books since the King James
Dakota,1900.
sent as well as reveal became an issue. edition of the Bible. Edward S. Curtis s
Some of the most compelling pictures
Despite the criticism, Curtis s overall dream of delivering to the world an exten-
have been taken by amateur photog-
achievement cannot be discounted. Nor sive, personal portrayal of a unique people
raphers whose work has gone practi-
can the fact that he was a true artist with and a special way of life had been realized.
cally unnoticed.Very little is known
the camera. His photograph of a Native By overcoming the many technical and about Roberts,but her photographs
tell the lively story of the pioneers
American rice gatherer,for example, reveals physical challenges that confronted them,
of the American West.
his flair for posing his subjects in the most the 19th-century and early 20th-century
dramatic manner possible. The way in photographers who took the world as their
which he used the long spikes of the natur- canvas made vital contributions.By increas-
al growth to frame the woman in the ing man s awareness of distant people and
canoe reveals his masterful sense of compo- far-off places they shrunk the globe. In the
sition as well as his determination to enno- process they blazed a whole new trail.The
ble a vanishing race of people. millions of amateur and professional pho-
Between 1907 and 1930 Curtis pub- tographers who today have made the tak-
lished his photographs, along with text, in a ing of pictures far from home one of the
20-volume set of books titled The North most common photographic experiences
American Indians. When it was completed, follow in the footsteps of these accom-
the New York Herald hailed the achievement plished pioneers.
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T H E WO R L D A R O U N D U S " 5 3
Revealing the World in Pictures
For much of history,extensive travel has been available only to the very
wealthy.Even though the end of the 19th century saw the beginning of
middle-class tourism,most people obtained their visions of far-flung people
and places from pictures.Photographs had the advantage over engravings of
providing scientific proof of unknown lands while also having the poten-
tial for artistic merit.Encouraged by developments that had made camera
equipment more portable and lightweight and by an eager audience at
home,scores of photographers many of them amateurs set out at the
turn of the 20th century to create a visual record of the world.
Image Not Available
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Horace A.Latimer.
A Water Carrier Cuba, 1902.
Photographer unknown.
Chinese women suffering
punishment,about 1900.
Image Not Available
Photographer unknown.
African cliff dwellings,about 1900.
P H O T O G R A P H Y / A N I L L U S T R A T E D H I S T O R Y " 5 4
Image Not Available
Photographer unknown.
Elephant ride in India,about 1900.
Image Not Available
Image Not Available
Photographer unknown.
Couple in Ireland,about 1900.
John Dunmore and George Critcherson.
Sailing Ships in an Ice Field,Labrador,Canada,1869.
T H E WO R L D A R O U N D U S " 5 5
Image Not Available
Chapter Four
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Photography as Art
y the last quarter of the 19th centu- contrasts between dark and light tones
ry, photographers around the world (called chiaroscuro). Many focused almost
had supplied ample proof of the exclusively on simple but lovely, often senti-
Bcamera s unique ability to record mental, subjects. Some portrayed characters
people and places. At the same time, there and incidents in fables, myths, or the Bible,
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