Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indians

Writing in 1907 that the "stock market has gone to the bow wows" (without, obviously, a hint of the true dog days on Wall Street yet to come), American photographer Edward S. Curtis wondered if he would be able to raise the necessary funding for his massive work The North American Indian, partially bankrolled by J.P. Morgan. Born in 1868, the Minnesota native Curtis lit out for Washington's Puget Sound area at the age of 19, eventually opening up a photography studio in 1895. Although Curtis would win national attention for his portrait photography (including a sitting with then President Theodore Roosevelt and his family in 1904), his interest--or rather obsession--from the turn of the century on was with the vanishing culture of the Native Americans. In the end, Curtis's pet project would consume over 20 years of his life, destroy his marriage, and leave him financially destitute. Coming to Light, Anne Makepeace's luminously filmed biographical portrait, combines interviews with scholars and Native Americans, together with archival film and stills, including a generous sampling of Curtis' sublime photographical portraits of North American Indians, ranging from the Hopi in Arizona to the Nunivak of Alaska (whose culture was largely destroyed ten years after Curtis preserved it on photographic plates). While the program addresses a variety of viewpoints regarding the propriety of Curtis' work (both positive and negative), as well as the charge that he "dressed up" his subjects, the main focus of the story remains Curtis' singular passion. A tale both triumphant and tragic, this CINE Golden Eagle award-winning film is highly recommended, even for those libraries that already own the similarly themed Forever in Time (VL-10/91). Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)