The question of realistic representation in photography is always a point
for discussion, as the viewer may assume each photo tells the
“truth.” At the same time, we also understand that even our most
seemingly candid photos are often posed and manipulated to get the
“best” image. What is the most effective way to tell the
“truth” and what can we learn from the process of fabrication and
storytelling?
Art historian and theorist Lucy R. Lippard discusses this topic in Partial
Recall: Photographs of Native North Americans. Lippard points out the
difficulty in using photographs of Native Americans during the late 1800s/early
1900s as a learning tool. In order to better understand Native American
life with better historical accuracy, we also need to examine photography and
mainstream culture during this time period.
The work of Smithsonian anthropologist Joanna Cohan Scherer illustrates the potential impact that investigating and re-examining historical photographs of Native Americans can have on our dialogue about culture and representation. In 1984, she discovered that previously unknown Danish photographer Benedicte Wrensted (1859-1949) had taken a large volume of photographs of members of the Comanche and Shoshone tribes (once one tribe) living in Idaho. These photos were incredible not only aesthetically, but in that they better illuminated the Native American experience during this time period.
The photographs had gone unattributed for years, as some were displayed in various Natural History Museums due to their striking imagery and evident anthropological importance. The images were not only masterfully taken with a sense of excellent composition and style, but also were some of the few surviving records of Comanche and Shoshone life and dress during the turn of the century. These portraits were taken of individuals and families as they dressed on a daily basis, lacking the strong imposition of the photographer’s narrative upon the subject. For a decade, Joanna Cohan Scherer researched volumes of these underappreciated photographs, and identified 84% of the individuals photographed.
While a photograph can never tell the whole story, images like these can help to bring to light otherwise unseen remnants of history. Lippard does caution us to proceed with an awareness that with changing cultural viewpoints, we have been constantly reinventing how we see such photographs ever since a photographer “took” the first Native’s image in the mid-1840s.
Burgess allows us to view Wrensted’s historically important image, depicting a realistic representation of a Fort Hall Reservation man at the turn of the 20th century, through his own unique lens. His painting encapsulates several layers of storytelling. It helps tell the story of photography and interpretation, Native American life, and our ability to move forward. While interpreting anew does not unlock the secrets of a photograph permanently, it can help us ask new questions and craft new viewpoints from which to examine our world.
