Mingled Visions

"Mingled Visions: Images from The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis" opened a week ago at the Whatcom Museum. We had our first look at the traveling exhibit of 40 original photogravures today with friends B and V, who were visiting from Seattle. 

Edward S. Curtis' massive work, published in 20 volumes from 1907-1930, with more than 700 photogravure prints and detailed descriptions of Native American tribes, is nothing short of amazing. This relatively brief biography of Curtis is worth reading, and here you can see many of Curtis' images from his wide-ranging travels, arranged by regions; if you do nothing else, take a look at these images from the American Southwest (click on each image to enlarge it). (If you'd like to learn more, I highly recommend Timothy Egan's 2012 book on Curtis, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, subtitled "The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis." Egan is a splendid writer and both Phil and I loved this book.)

The exhibit runs through May 10, so if you're in the area, do make time to enjoy it!

(Although non-flash photography is allowed inside the Curtis exhibit, the photos I took there had too many reflections to make them useable here, so today's blip shows a long view of the Lightcatcher wall and some bright paintings hanging in the main hallway.)