A growing number of professional Native American photographers are capturing complex, nuanced, and compelling perspectives of what it means to be Indigenous in the contemporary United States. The program Fresh Focus on Native American Photography looks at the work of five Native American art and documentary photographers who have taken on the task of capturing modern Indigenous stories. Deeply concerned with who tells these stories, each participant is lending their voice to portray what it means to be Native American today.
Taking place at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, Fresh Focus on Native American Photography will feature several discussions delving into these issues. Photojournalists Donovan Quintero (Navajo), Tailyr Irvine (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), and Russel Albert Daniels (Diné descent and Ho-Chunk descent) — whose works are featured in the museum’s Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field exhibition — will talk about their personal journeys alongside other experts in the field.
Join us for this free event on February 4, 1–5pm (ET). Advanced registration is encouraged. Can’t attend in person? Watch the livestream at AmericanIndian.si.edu/livestream.
Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field is a series of photo essays created by Native photojournalists Russel Albert Daniels, Tailyr Irvine, and Donovan Quintero in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Now on view in New York City through March 12, the exhibition is also available online. It was curated by Cécile R. Ganteaume in collaboration with Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa), Editor at Large at Grist, and John Smock, director of photojournalism at the CUNY School of Journalism.
For more information, visit AmericanIndian.si.edu.