Charles Carpenter’s Native American subjects stare at us across gulfs of time and culture. In rich sepia tones imbued with the cachet of age, they inhabit a world not our own.
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Carpenter used diffused natural light to illuminate his subjects, most of whom pose–singly, in pairs, or in small groups–facing the camera, confronting the photographer and the viewer. The large size of the glass-plate negatives–six-and-a-half by eight-and-a-half inches–lends an exceptional clarity of detail. And the light is soft, showing to advantage the details of faces–young and smooth or old and lined–and clothing–highly decorated at times, or worn and richly textured.
It was, obviously, a time of transition for Native Americans–though for most “transition” may have been rather too mild a word. The cultural change going on around the turn of the century is hinted at in a photo of three men, the Oglala Sioux Flying Hawk and the Nez Perce John and David Williams. The mix of native and English names matches their eclectic outfits: buttoned shirts worn with feather headdresses, moccasins, and beaded necklaces. Even Geronimo, who as Apache chief represented virtually the epitome of defiance against white settlers and the U.S. Cavalry, is shown here wearing a jacket and trousers. The bow and arrow he holds in his hand, juxtaposed with his European clothes, look like museum props. Geronimo, 75 years old when the photograph was taken, looks just past the camera, fierce and stony-faced.
Carpenter’s photos undoubtedly contain a wealth of information of interest to the anthropologist, to the descendants of his subjects, and to the layman. Before the exposition Carpenter had spent a good deal of time photographing Native American customs in real Indian villages. His photos are a trove of information about native dress, and those showing Chippewa doing beadwork, a Nootka woman weaving baskets, and Kwakiutl men smoothing a copper plate must be useful to students of Native American cultures or of those crafts. Perhaps many white Americans gained a better understanding of Native Americans by seeing them at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. But the museum casts a pall over everything in it, changes it from something that exists for its own sake into an educational tool. But that is how it was with the Indians in 1904. They had been tamed.
