Zamir, Gift of the Face
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Cover and interior design. Copyright University of North Carolina Press. Interior is in the 2015 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show.
![23
Chapter 2
A Third Something | Image and Text
How the eyes and the hands experience the volumes and portfolios of The
North American Indian invites reflection on the modes of reading appropriate
to the work of Curtis and his collaborators. The volumes, 12 inches high by 10
inches wide, are bound in Moroccan leather and printed on imported hand-
made Holland Van Gelder etching stock, Japanese vellum, or a fine Japanese
tissue paper, the choice depending on the papers ability to accommodate
a rich tonal range in the reproduction of photographic images. High-足grade
Japanese tissue was used for the portfolio sheets that measure 18 by 22 inches
and that were reserved for images Curtis considered to be of exceptional qual-
ity. Each portfolio consists of around 36 plates, the remainder of the images
being distributed across the twenty volumes. Both the images in the volumes
and the portfolio images are hand-足pulled copperplate photogravures, that is,
individually pressed prints of superior quality, produced by a costly process
demanding high craft skills in which photographic fidelity to detail is suc-
cessfully combined with the kind of subtle play of light and shadow found in
fine etching.1
In photogravure (or heliogravure) a polished copper plate is dusted with
resin before carbon tissue is laid on top. The transfer of the photographic
image is effected by exposing the plate to sunlight through a transparency.
This selectively hardens the photosensitive gelatin and forms a graded resist
that can then be etched with ferric chloride.2 As Estelle Jussim notes, late
into the twentieth century photogravure continued to be the medium of
choice when the greatest fidelity to an original photograph [was] desired,
but photogravures did not in the least resemble the popular silver chloride
prints; gravures rather recalled the richness of mezzotints, the jet-足black inks
of lithography, the delicacy and fine lines of etching, the decorative capabili-
ties of aquatint.3 The strong appeal of the medium for those arguing for pho-
tography as an art lay precisely in the fact that it helped ally the photographic](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/zamirgiftcoverandinterior-150614195224-lva1-app6892/85/Zamir-Gift-of-the-Face-3-320.jpg)
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Zamir, Gift of the Face
- 1. zamir TheGiftoftheFace PortraitureandTimein油EdwardS.CurtissThe油NorthAmericanIndian The Gift of the Face Portraiture and Time in油Edward S.Curtiss The油North American Indian shamoon zamir
- 2. The Gift of theFace Portraiture and Time in Edward油S. Curtiss The North American Indian shamoon zamir The University of North Carolina Press chapel hill
- 3. 23 Chapter 2 A Third Something | Image and Text How the eyes and the hands experience the volumes and portfolios of The North American Indian invites reflection on the modes of reading appropriate to the work of Curtis and his collaborators. The volumes, 12 inches high by 10 inches wide, are bound in Moroccan leather and printed on imported hand- made Holland Van Gelder etching stock, Japanese vellum, or a fine Japanese tissue paper, the choice depending on the papers ability to accommodate a rich tonal range in the reproduction of photographic images. High-足grade Japanese tissue was used for the portfolio sheets that measure 18 by 22 inches and that were reserved for images Curtis considered to be of exceptional qual- ity. Each portfolio consists of around 36 plates, the remainder of the images being distributed across the twenty volumes. Both the images in the volumes and the portfolio images are hand-足pulled copperplate photogravures, that is, individually pressed prints of superior quality, produced by a costly process demanding high craft skills in which photographic fidelity to detail is suc- cessfully combined with the kind of subtle play of light and shadow found in fine etching.1 In photogravure (or heliogravure) a polished copper plate is dusted with resin before carbon tissue is laid on top. The transfer of the photographic image is effected by exposing the plate to sunlight through a transparency. This selectively hardens the photosensitive gelatin and forms a graded resist that can then be etched with ferric chloride.2 As Estelle Jussim notes, late into the twentieth century photogravure continued to be the medium of choice when the greatest fidelity to an original photograph [was] desired, but photogravures did not in the least resemble the popular silver chloride prints; gravures rather recalled the richness of mezzotints, the jet-足black inks of lithography, the delicacy and fine lines of etching, the decorative capabili- ties of aquatint.3 The strong appeal of the medium for those arguing for pho- tography as an art lay precisely in the fact that it helped ally the photographic
- 4. 145The Crow and Photography facing left to right. Throssels image is clearly taken later, when Shot in the Hand was considerably older, but little else seems to have changed. The por- traits of Medicine Crow by Curtis and Throssel are also strikingly similar. In both images Medicine Crow appears in traditional clothing and hairstyle, and his body is also positioned at a roughly forty-足five degree angle with the head held at an identical, haughty slant, the sharply sculpted nose underlining the effect, the body leaning back, and the eyes staring off into the distance.18 Figure 6.5. Edward油S. Curtis, Medicine CrowApsaroke (volume 6:portfolio plate 117). Northwestern University Library, Edward油S. Curtiss The North American Indian, 2003. Figure 6.6. Richard Throssel, Medicine Crow. Richard Throssel Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
- 5. Plate 6. Edward油S. Curtis, The Blanket MakerNavaho (volume 1: facing 76). Northwestern University Library, Edward油S. Curtiss The North American Indian, 2003. Plate 7. Edward油S. Curtis, The Weaver (volume 12:facing 84). Northwestern University Library, Edward油S. Curtiss The North American Indian, 2003. Plate 8. Edward油S. Curtis, Underground House Tops with Whale-足Rib Drying Rack. Diomede (volume 20:facing 116). Northwestern University Library, Edward油S. Curtiss The North American Indian, 2003.