A landmark photography collection featuring work exclusively by Indigenous American artists that tells stories of Indigenous history through the eyes of their own people and sheds new light on the understanding of Indigenous America.
The history of photography—and the Americas—is incomplete without the critical work and perspectives of early Indigenous American photographers. Since the 1800s, cameras have been in the hands of Indigenous people and they have incorporated photography into their lives as creators, patrons, and collectors.
Five years ago, photographers Brian Adams and Sarah Stacke set off on a mission to assemble a groundbreaking, digital library of Indigenous photographers from the 19th century to the present. With “In Light and Shadow: A Photographic History from Indigenous America”, Adams and Stacke expand on that work, creating a one-of-a-kind collection of photographs that offers a first-hand look at the people, cultures, and evolving traditions of Indigenous America while providing a counterhistory to settler-colonial narratives.
From Jennie Fields Ross Cobb, the earliest known Indigenous American woman photographer, to Arhuaco documentarian Amado Villafaña Chaparro, through Kapuleiikealoonalani Flores, a Native Hawaiian who was born in 2000, the photographers span many generations as well as multiple Indigenous societies and nations. Each entry includes a biographical sketch of the artist, carefully vetted for accuracy, along with their inspirations and contributions to the photographic medium. For several of the earlier photographers, this is their first publication outside of their local media.
With profiles of 80 photographers and more than 250 photographs, this unique book brings to light the canon of Indigenous American photography that has been developing on its own terms for decades.
