Masters of Photography - Edward Curtis

Video Title :	Masters of Photography - Edward Curtis
Description :	Photography ©The Estate of Edward Curtis Digital photography from The Northwestern University Library http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/curthome.html --------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_S._Curtis Edward Sheriff Curtis (February 16, 1868 -- October 19, 1952) was a photographer of the American West and of Native American peoples. Edward Curtis was born near Whitewater, Wisconsin. Around 1874 the family moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota, and Curtis built his own camera. In 1892 Edward married Clara J. Phillips. Together they had four children. In 1896 the entire family moved to a new house in Seattle In 1895 Curtis met and photographed Princess Angeline, the daughter of Chief Sealth of Seattle. This was to be his first portrait of a Native American. In 1898 while photographing Mt. Rainier, Curtis came upon a small group of scientists. One of them was George Bird Grinnell, an expert on Native Americans. Grinnell became interested in Curtis' photography and invited him to join an expedition to photograph the Blackfeet Indians in Montana in the year 1900. In 1906 J.P. Morgan offered Curtis $75,000 to produce a series on the North American Indian. It was to be in 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs. Curtis' goal was not just to photograph, but to document, as much American Indian (Native American) traditional life as possible before that way of life disappeared. He wrote in the introduction to his first volume in 1907: "The information that is to be gathered ... respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." Curtis made over 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Indian language and music. He took over 40,000 photographic images from over 80 tribes. He recorded tribal lore and history, and he described traditional foods, housing, garments, recreation, ceremonies, and funeral customs. He wrote biographical sketches of tribal leaders, and his material, in most cases, is the only recorded history. In 1930 he published the concluding volume of The North American Indian. In total about 280 sets were sold of his now completed opus magnum In 1935 the rights and remaining unpublished material were sold by the Morgan estate to the Charles E. Lauriat Company in Boston. This included 19 complete bound sets of The North American Indian, thousands of individual paper prints, the copper printing plates, the unbound printed pages, and the original glass-plate negatives. The Prints and Photographs Division Curtis collection consists of more than 2,400 silver-gelatin, first generation photographic prints made from Curtis's original glass negatives. Acquired by the Library of Congress through copyright deposit from about 1900 through 1930. Around 1970, Karl Kernberger went to Boston to search for Curtis' original copper plates and photogravures at the Charles E. Lauriat rare bookstore. The Zaplin Group owned the plates until 1982, when they sold them to a California group led by Kenneth Zerbe, the current owner of the plates. Dr. Charles Goddard Weld purchased 110 prints that Curtis had made for his 1905-1906 exhibit and donated them to the Peabody Essex Museum, where they remain. http://themastersofphotography.blogspot.com/2008/04/edward-curtis.html ---------------------------------------- Music -- La conquista de Breda (Conquest of Breda), by Roque Baños (from the O.S.T. Alatriste). Remix with "Little Boys' Traditional Dance Contest Song" and "Chant Chamanique" (Omaha indian music). Support the artists, buy their music as I did. http://www.roquebanos.es/ http://www.roquebanos.es/tienda/index.php?set_lang=eng http://cdbaby.com/cd/oim2
Views :	1105
Rating :	5.00
Keywords, Tags :	Edwar Curtis Native American West Still Life portraiture Alatriste Roque Baños Omaha Indian music
Video Length :	6 : 15

Comments :

these pictures are amazing..

I have to admit, this is my absolute favorite so far. These photos evoke such feeling within me. I love them. I have Native American roots and this stirs something in my soul.

I must admit that i watched the whole portfolio (more than 1.500 images) at The Northwestern University Library, i spent many time, buy i really enjoyed too reading on the culture, the journey, the traditions... Curtis was a great master... and it was a well-invested time..

Excellent as they always are. Don't stop keeping them coming. Thanks

I really appreciate each and every video you bring to us. They are all informational and very nicely composed.

Thanks for introducing me to Edward Curtis. Very beautiful images. I wonder what was J.P Morgan's motivation to offer Curtis $ 75.000 in 1906 ? It must have been a very large amount of money back then. Lovely posting as always.

Hi Errol, according to artnet-com, The North American Indian portfolios were sold at auction (Christie's New York) for $1,416,000 (oct. 2005). ;-)... Regards!.

amazing... just amazing..

Tjis is the most inspiring video you made in a while. Curtis truly is a mester of photography.

Thank you for taking us on such a beautiful journey, with powerful images and spiritual music.