Edward S. Curtis

Artist’s BACKGROUND: Edward S. Curtis was born in 1868 and died in 1952.He was an American ethnologist but decided to be a photographer when his family moved to Seattle,Washington. He decided to take photos of Indian people because in 1895 he meet a photographed the daughter of the chief stealth of Seattle. From then on he decided to take pictures of Indians.

COMMON THEMES or IMAGES: Curtis focused on the life style of the native Americans, he typically does portrait photographs of Indians with different kinds of clothes worn or different types of hair styles.

Is the artist RESPECTFUL of Native American culture? Explain.Curtis is very respectful and I think other Native Americans would feel that way too because of the fact that he takes photos of them that show them representing wearing things that represent their culture.

 Three Horses 
A photo by Curtis that shows that he wants to capture the culture of the Indians. He also wants to show the different types of necklaces and clothing they wear.


Dakota Sioux
A photograph which shows a woman. In the picture the woman is posing for a photo and you can see that she is wearing Indian braids, and a headband relating to her tribe.

Taos Indian
This photo shows an old poor Indian wearing Indian clothes this shows that he wants to show all types of Indians in society.


Crown Indian Chief child 
A photo of a woman that is high in Indian society but looks as if shes a poor woman in our society it shows the separation of society but in a respectful way.


Oasis In The Badlands
This photo shows an Indian man sitting on a horse drinking water it is a very peaceful scene.


 Arikira woman
A photo that shows an older Indian woman with Indian woven braids.