Notes from the Author

Notes:  This Collection is a fusion of photographic images that spans three centuries and combines into one memorable series, the last views of the remnants of our indigenous native forefathers collectively known as the American Indian. From broken glass plate images made in the 1880's to high-tech digital camera files, the lives of the ancestors have been given a new vision. Through the use of modern technology, It is my intent to produce a view of the Historic Forefathers that takes them out of the harsh circumstances and hostile climate of the 1800's and early 20th century. Raison d’etre:  The only images taken of the last of these stoic warriors, women and children, were taken of a people who had been under siege for more than two hundred years. In the early photographs of Edward S. Curtis, Mathew Brady, James Grabill and others, we find a priceless record of the Forefathers of the American Indian. These maligned “red-skin savages” as they were referred to at the time, remained unbroken, and in these images, they display exceptional courage under fire, as well as a nobility that speaks through the centuries of a highly developed culture. This ancient culture fell prey to a system that was dedicated to “civilizing” the American Indian by an official “pacification policy”, while at the same time conveniently “appropriating” land for millions of new settlers. This policy included so-called “ re-education”, but instead resulted in re-location, decimation and starvation. In 1830 “The Indian Removal Act” was passed by the Congress of the United States, which resulted among other atrocities, in the infamous ‘Trail of Tears’ which was part of a forced relocation of about 100,000 people who were uprooted from their native lands on a forced march of 1000 miles. to live on the small remnants of their confiscated lands called reservations or the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. By the time it occurred to such visionaries as Edward S. Curtis and Teddy Roosevelt that the American Indian was so very unique, among aboriginal peoples of the world, they had almost completely vanished. Though Curtis and others made many magnificent photographs, a large portion of the images of the aboriginal forefathers at that time suffered due to the infancy of photography and unfavorable circumstances including the primitive conditions and lack of sophisticated photographic equipment and technique. Lenses were not fast, and film emulsions very slow, and negative plates very fragile. The only Historic photographs of these people were often taken out of context, in seedy “picture parlors”, or at best in depressing “reservations” or standing in front of a hastily propped up backdrop suspended on the side of a wagon or hung from a tree. Quite often their ‘white eyed’ detractors insisted on posing with these “curiosities”, thus lending an atmosphere of sideshow peculiarity to these pictures. In spite of their condition, these people, with piercing eyes and undaunted spirit, stare into the camera with uncertainty, sadness, mistrust , resignation, and defiance. And yet through all this unimaginable circumstance, their handsome faces shine for all eternity. I have attempted to give new vision to images that are often well worn with time, and to find a harmony with modern imagery that speaks with eloquence and spirituality to these noble people. It is to their memory that this project is dedicated, and it is to their descendants that this work is given, so that the spirit of the Grandfathers may be seen in a new way, through new eyes... for a new Millenium.

LAST  IMAGE   -     WINDWALKER  Portfolio     -   FIRST  IMAGE

REPRESENTED  BY


HOME  |   CONTACT   |   NEWS and EVENTS

www.McCormickGallery.com
(800) 279-0879

mail@mccormickgallery.com

---

All text and images in this web site are copyright © 2006 Ravenwood Studios Inc./Peter Johannes