Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective

by Shane Balkowitsch

Overview

North Dakotan Shane Balkowitsch’s first personal camera was not an Instamatic Kodak or a point-and-shoot Nikon, but rather a large format wet plate camera. As a self-taught “image-maker” and one of the fewer than 1,000 wet plate collodion artists practicing around the world, Balkowitsch has fully devoted himself to mastering the obsolete photographic technology since 2012. Approaching the historically embedded technique from a contemporary perspective, Balkowitsch’s process transforms the limitations of the medium—its labor and time-sensitive nature—into opportunities for creative explorations. Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective presents a selection from Balkowitsch’s photographic project which aims to capture 1000 wet plate portraits of Native Americans. His photographs highlight the dignity of his subjects, depicting them not as archetypes, but individuals of contemporary identities and historical legacies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943876426
Publisher:	G Arts LLC
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	123
Sales rank:	1,040,670
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 12.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Shane Balkowitsch is a self-taught large format photographer. As one of the fewer than 1,000 wet plate collodion artists practicing around the world, Balkowitsch carries on the tradition of the Victorian photographic method, which dates back to the 19th century. Based in Bismarck, North Dakota, Balkowitsch established the first natural light wet plate studio constructed in the entire country in over 100 years, the Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio. His works are held in prestigious institutions, including the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the Smithsonian Institution.

Read an Excerpt

_Reflection

_{Shane Balkowitsch}

_{It is hard to believe that I am now three fourths of the way to my goal of 1000 portraits for this series.}

_{When I first started on this path the task was to take ten portraits of Native Americans. It soon became}

_{50, then 100 and after much contemplation I decided on 1000. Knowing very well that this would take}

_{me between ten to fifteen years to achieve. It seemed like an impossible goal at the time.}

_{I recently received another tour of the vault at the State Historical Society of North Dakota at the}

_{Heritage Center. This tour was extra special for me because Emily Kubischta was present. She is the first}

_{person at the state archive to identify my work as historically significant. She was instumental in getting}

_{my first plate into the archive. That plate was of Ernie LaPointe the Great Grandson of Sitting Bull. Ernie}

_{was given the honor of naming the plate and his response was “Eternal Field“. This would become}

_{ground zero, plate #1, for the series and all other Native portraits would follow.}

_{As I type this, the State Historical Society has curated over 900 of my plates. To see them all sitting there}

_{neatly organized, indexed, labeled and protected on the shelves brought a tear to my eye. It seems that I}

_{have had my head down for so long working diligently one plate at a time that I was unaware of the}

_{scale of the series itself. I knew at that very moment if fate does not break my stride, we will see the}

_{competion of the series.}

_{I have been asked about how I select the cover for each volume. It was obvious to me that the portrait}

_{of Ernie should have the honor for Volume One. For Volume Two I felt it was crucial to have a female}

_{represented and Kristen Joy Tootoosis was given the honor. For this volume it seemed obvioius to}

_{include youth and the future of the culture. Redsky Starr was perfect for that role. Every time I made a}

_{portrait that would become the cover, it became immediatley obvious to me what I had. This I cannot}

_explain.

_{Another question that I field is why I am including images outside of the Northern plains. When the}

_{series was first conceptualized it needed a formal name. With the help of the Historical Society we}

_{decided on “Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective“. There would have}

_{been no way we would have known that the series would expand outside of our local area. So as the}

_{series gained momentum. Indigenous people started traveling in from all over the country and in some}

_{cases from outside the United States. Even though the scope of the series has reached further than the}

_{Northern plains tribes, it is important to keep the original name for consistency. I have thought about}

_{changing the name on several occassions but I like the fact that it has remained the same and should}

_{remain the same no matter where this takes us. There has always been one rule, no indigenous person}

_{will ever be turned down if they want to participate. There simply is no barrier to enter.}

Editorial Reviews

Shane’s purpose is not to photograph Native Americans as if the 19th and 20th centuries had

never happened—the mission of the great Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952)—but to record

individuals as they wish to be seen, to give Native Americans the opportunity to explore their self-

image, perhaps at times a fantasy image, in a safe space where who they are and how they see

themselves are certain to be respected and admired.”—Clay Straus Jenkinson, Director, The

Dakota Institute

From the Publisher

Shane’s work shines on its artistic merit and for its collaborative nature. It is genuine and enthusiastic on a human level. For the folks of many different Indian tribes who sit for his portraits, and who often become his life-long friends, Shane builds lasting rapport. It is this rapport, and the importance of honest collaboration between people of different cultures, that is so vital for our country and is at the heart of moving forward as a nation. I strive to emulate the rapport that Shane has achieved in his art in the work I’m doing in Congress. Shane’s photographs are not only beautiful, they convey the best example of good people working together to achieve something great.

March 21st, 2019 - Debra A. Haaland