Fish Shows-Apsaroke 1908

This photogravure on paper, "Fish Shows-Apsaroke," was made by Edward S. Curtis sometime around the turn of the century. Just look at this image: the sepia tones give it such a sense of time, of history, don’t they? You know, when I look at this, I imagine Curtis, camera in hand, trying to capture not just a likeness, but a whole story, a way of life. There is Fish Shows, stoic, adorned with layers of beads, each one probably holding its own significance. I wonder about the weight of those beads, the weight of tradition, of expectation. Curtis, I bet, felt that weight too, the weight of representing a culture, an individual, with honesty and respect. This image is part of a larger conversation, isn’t it? About representation, about history, about the power of a single image to speak volumes. It speaks, but does it capture everything? Can it? That's what I ask myself when I look at this, what I ask myself when I paint, too.