Edward S. Curtis

author

Edward S. Curtis

1868–1952

Best known for the monumental series The North American Indian, this American photographer devoted decades to documenting Native communities across the continent. His pictures became some of the most widely recognized images of the early 20th century, while also prompting lasting debate about how he shaped what he recorded.

1 Audiobook

The North American Indian, Vol. 1

The North American Indian, Vol. 1

by Edward S. Curtis

About the author

Born in Wisconsin in 1868, he built his early career as a photographer in Seattle before gaining national attention for his portraits and fieldwork. A meeting with anthropologist George Bird Grinnell and support from Theodore Roosevelt helped open the way for his most ambitious project.

Over the course of about 30 years, he traveled widely to photograph and record the lives, ceremonies, and stories of many Indigenous peoples. That work became The North American Indian, a vast publication of text and images that made his reputation and remains the achievement he is most closely associated with.

Curtis died in 1952. His photographs are still admired for their striking beauty and historical value, even as scholars and readers continue to examine the limits of his approach and the ways his images sometimes reflected romantic ideas of Native life.