The William F. Cody Archive: Documenting the life and times of Buffalo Bill

Commentary on "Plenty Wounds, Sioux Indian"

Gertrude Käsebier's photograph of Plenty Wounds utilizes all of her talent in capturing the natural light that emanated through the windows of her studio. The shadowing on his face, the way he's bringing his arm up to his head is also very different than most of the portraits that we see made by her at this time and of these Indians. The direct gaze, again the bond between the photographer and the sitter that's being made in this moment, that creates an intimacy like they were alone in the studio. We know that they weren't, that there could be as many as a dozen people with them. But she is able to work with Plenty Wounds in a way that takes away the rest of the world and whatever was going on in the studio, where he and she share this moment. She uses her technical skills with the camera to capture the light and then to take it to the darkroom to perfect.