Photographic Presence in New Mexico
Past, Present and Future: Photographic Presence in New Mexico Devorah Romanek A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University College London (UCL), 2019 I, Devorah Romanek Confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Photograph on frontispiece: Will Wilson (2012). “Zig Jackson, Citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, Professor of Photography, Savannah College of Art and Design.” Label text from the 2013 exhibition Toward a Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange: Will Wilson’s CIPX at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico: “Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe Indian Market, 2012. Archival pigment print from wet plate collodion scan. Jackson takes a picture of an Indian taking a picture of an Indian as Andrew Smith protects his soul from theft.” Photo credit: © Will Wilson, courtesy of the artist. ii Abstract This thesis investigates the relationship between historical ethnographic photographs of Native Americans, their disposition in archives and collections, and the relationship of those images to their contemporary circulation and use by Native American artists, and others, particularly in New Mexico. Having undertaken original research into mid-19th century photographs in archives internationally, pertaining to Native America in the American Southwest, new histories and a re- framing of the photographs in question has been assembled. This portion of the research was undertaken both as a starting point for further investigation, and as a return to the people of New Mexico, particularly the Indigenous inhabitants of that place.
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