Richard Throssel (1882–1933) was a Cree photographer, who documented life on the Crow Reservation at the beginning of the 20th century.

Background

Richard Throssel was born in Marengo,

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

in 1882. Throssel is best known for his photographs of the Crow Reservation from 1902-1911. These photographs of the

Crows The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. ...

, which cover ceremonies, dances, scenes of everyday life, as well as individual and group portraits, are not only priceless historical documents they are, very simply, beautiful photographs. Though Throssel was not Crow, his quarter blood of Canadian Cree heritage and 1906 adoption into the Crow Nation afforded him intimate moments, which non-Indian photographers could not experience with the Crow People of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. After a long bout with rheumatism, it was recommended he live in a drier climate. At the age of twenty, Throssel moved to the Crow Reservation in Montana as a clerk for the Indian Services office. He was exposed to the outstanding art environment that existed on the Crow Reservation. Throssel observed stunning Crow beading, narrative

ledger art Ledger art is a term for narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth, predominantly practiced by Plains Indian, but also from the Plateau and Great Basin. Ledger art flourished primarily from the 1860s to the 1920s. A revival of ledger art b ...

, and the paintings and photographs of non-Native American artists, Joseph Henry Sharp and

Edward S. Curtis Edward Sherriff Curtis (February 19, 1868 – October 19, 1952) was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and on Native American people. Sometimes referred to as the "Shadow Catcher", Curtis travele ...

. Through painting lessons with Sharp, Throssel learned not only technique; he acquired the principles of design and composition.

Career

Throssel began to photograph shortly after arriving on the Crow Reservation, but it was not until 1905 that "Throssel submitted his first set of photographs, twenty-nine in number, for copyright." This same year Throssel met ethnographer and photographer Edward S. Curtis. Curtis' influence on Throssel was apparent in Throssel's 1907 set of copyrighted images. In this series Throssel employed vivid lighting with sometimes-staged arrangements, lending towards a much more sentimental view of Crow life. Throssel was also well known for his photographs of "Crow couples, families and children, which are especially striking as the love and warmth expressed by the families are so contrary to how we normally see Native men, women, and children depicted in early photography" (Alison 235). Even though Throssel was part of the early cliché style of depicting Native Peoples his approach also lent itself towards photographs of subjects caught in the moment. The Indian subjects of his photographs expressed a sense of familiarity that cannot be found in the work of non-Indian photographers. Throssel continued to photograph the Crow Nation for the Wanamaker Expedition of 1908 and the Indian Service in 1909. After resigning as photographer for the Indian Service, Throssel with his wife of five years moved to

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

to open up his own commercial photography business, The Throssel Photographic Company. It was here that he organized a brochure of his photographs, which he was renowned for entitled ''Western Classics''. In less than a decade, Throssel built a personal collection of nearly 1,000 photographs, including 180 portraits of Crow people, 99 portraits of other American Indians, 186

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scenes, 63 Crow sacred and secular ceremonial images, and 352 images of daily life among the Crows of MontanaMarien, Mary Warner. "Shooting back: The life and work of one of the earliest Native American photographers." ''Christian Science Monitor'' 89.192 (1997): B2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 April 2010. In 1917, after a successful career as an artist, Throssel was twice elected Yellowstone County's representative to the Montana Legislature. Throssel's interest in politics continued until his death in 1933.

Notes

References

*Albright P. ''Crow Indian Photographer: The Work of Richard Throssel.'' Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997. .

External links

The Outsider and the Native Eye: The Photographs of Richard Throssel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Throssel, Richard 1882 births 1933 deaths Cree people Crow tribe Native American photographers Artists from Montana 20th-century American photographers