What does a photograph show, and what does it conceal?
Against the backdrop of colonial westward expansion, historical photographs of Native Americans were predominately taken by white male photographers.
The black and white images were often staged, attempting to capture so-called “vanishing people,” hardening racist beliefs.
These representations created a stereotypical Native identity that has been reinforced in popular culture from textbooks to movies.
“Photography has a long voyeuristic and exploitative relationship with indigenous communities,” says artist Ryan RedCorn. “The relationship between indigenous people and non Native photographers is at best strained, and at worst, gratuitous, invasive, repulsive, and deceitful.”
RedCorn uses portraiture to respond to these tropes and present his subjects instead “as they choose to be seen,” giving them sovereignty over their own identity.
Portrait of Chantelle Keshaye Pahtayken & Shay Pahtayken, Plains Cree, introduces us to Shay and her mother, Chantelle.
With an affectionate embrace, together, they lock eyes with the camera, presenting not only their loving bond, but also their powerful resilience.
“In this portrait,” RedCorn explains, “my goal was to capture the emblematic love and strength between a mother and daughter — a form of familial love and expression of value that can be recognized by all peoples regardless of language or cultural background.”
The work is a collaboration with the subjects, developing a strategy for their pose, dress, and environment, with RedCorn mindful of the history he is challenging.
The use of color and scale in Portrait of Chantelle Keshaye Pahtayken & Shay Pahtayken, Plains Cree, are intentional responses to the black and white souvenir images that capitalized on the belief of supposedly “wild and savage Indians.”
RedCorn’s work places Native Americans and their stories firmly in the present, with the knowledge that photography can reveal as much as it can obscure.
