My wife and I traveled to Muskegon last week to experience the exhibit - it
was well worth the investment of time and money.
We spent roughly 4 hours looking at the entire exhibit but could have spent
more.
It was interesting to note that the tribes he covered were all western - I
don't think he covered any tribe east of the Mississippi.
He was self taught and even made his first camera. He certainly understood
compositions and the value of quality light.
His portraits were my favorite - he did have very photogenic subjects.
The supplementary displays were extremely informative, filling in much that
was not conveyed photographically.
This exhibit was 2 years in the planning and must have cost the museum a lot
with all the mounting and framing involved - the prints were initially
available in 'loose leaf' books.
A docent remarked that the images were originally sold as subscriptions
($3000 in the 1900's) to complete volumes of his work and that he did not
sell the full number of subscription he planned on selling.
He died in poverty.
Go there if you can !
Kenneth Waller
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/kennethwaller
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark C" <pdml-m...@charter.net>
Subject: Edward S. Curtis Exhibit
I went to Muskegon Michigan today to see an exhibit of Edwin S Curtis's
North American Indian prints. It was an excellent and massive exhibit, well
worth a visit. I doubt that many PDMLer's are nearby, but in case anyone
is passing that way...
All 723 of Curtis' prints were on display - the full set. The museum
believes this is the first time the entire set has been displayed. I
wondered how a fairly small museum got this exhibit and where it would go
next. As it turns out the Muskegon public library was one of the 200+
subscribers to the original project and received the books and
photogravure prints as they were published. A docent told me that at this
time there were no plans to travel the show.
My only complaint - 723 prints plus supplemental displays is a bit
overwhelming - I plan another visit or two over the summer.
Here are a few cell phone snaps of some of the exhibits:
http://www.markcassino.com/b2evolution/index.php/edward-s-curtis-exhibit?blog=9
And the museums webpage:
http://www.muskegonartmuseum.org/exhibition/edward-s-curtis-north-american-indian/
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