Rod Slemmons Knihy

Like the Mennonites and the Amish, the Hutterites are farmers -- and very successful ones. All three religious communities have resisted modernity in religion, social affairs, and family life, but the Hutterites use state-of-the-art equipment and progressive methods of agriculture. Their self-imposed isolation and predominantly self-sufficient lifestyle have enabled them to preserve their traditional customs. Photographs of them are rare, and non-Hutterites are considered "outsiders".Kristin Capp's photos deal primarily with themes of memory, history, gender, and role. She has focused upon objects and motifs in states of transition, on the themes of new and old. Unconcerned with "cataloging", she has devoted herself rather to refining and intensifying her approach to these subjects.

Legendary for his massive photographic undertaking The North American Indian, Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) recorded much more than portraits of Native American tribespeople. Among his huge body of work are numerous images of all manner of native tipis, hogans, huts, cliff houses, adobes, and many more that are far less familiar to the public eye. Though people are largely absent from these photographs, each image speaks volumes about the lives and lifestyles of the tribes to which they belonged. Other structures such as tombs, religious buildings, granaries, and totem poles are also featured prominently, further glimpses into ways of life that were in the process of disappearing. Taken from the Dan and Mary Solomon collection, Sites & The Architectural Photographs of Edward S. Curtis is the first book of Curtis photographs to explore these dwellings and structures, faithfully reproduced from the original prints and gravures. Curator and photography historian Rod Slemmons puts these photographs in context among Curtis's more familiar portraits and considers their anthropological and artistic importance. Reproduced in large, splendid tritones, Sites & Structures is one of the finest monographs of this American photographic master.

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Seattle Art Museum, Mar. 23 to May 27, 1989, and at 9 other museums from summer 1989 to spring 1991.