Photographic images of Indian life are rare treats. The idea of the white man’s camera does not sit easily with most Plains Indian tribes. The opportunity to photograph the Plains Indian is but a brief glimpse into a rich and turbulent cultural history. It is also an important contribution to our recorded history.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting many Indian people but photographing very few. Frank Fools Crow, Lakota Medicine Man and Ceremonial Chief; Jack Little, Lakota Author Lecturer and Museum Guide and Bill Tall Bull, Northern Cheyenne Tribal Historian, are men who have made important and countless contributions to the self esteem of their people.

They are men who have experienced the old ways of their people, the turbulence of dramatic change and hardships in the twentieth century and have continued to seek an equilibrium and self respect for their people. I still cherish the opportunity I had to meet and photograph them.

It is a commonly held view that Native Americans do not like to be photographed. This idea is more representative of the nineteenth century thought, when it was documented that many Indians thought that the still image captured and entrapped their spirit.

Today, individual choice and the photographer’s approach are the determining factors in gaining consent to photograph. Many Native Americans will consent to being photographed if an appropriate introduction is made and proper manners are observed. It is not unusual for a photograph stolen from a safe distance to be foiled by a last second flick of an eagle fan, consent is vital.

During my two decades of travelling over the Great Plains region I have always used the same two Olympus 20 cameras. To fully learn how best to capture the images that I sought, they had to become an extension of my arm. It was also important that the actual camera was not too intrusive.

A natural environment was important both to the subject and structure of the images. When I happened across a person willing to be photographed, we shook hands and then set about the task of creating an image that we would both be proud of. This, however should not be confused with posed shots, my photographs accurately represent a brief encounter in time when all the essential elements come together without the aid of props and unnecessary artifice.