Welcome to CurtisCamp
An introduction for new visitors
Listen to the Camp Keeper
I am the Camp Keeper, Steven Kern. This page brings together the story behind Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indian, and the unique copper photogravure plates that are at the heart of this site.
Edward S. Curtis was a member of the Harriman Alaska Expedition. During that journey, after photographing Native people, Curtis became convinced that it was important to document Native American tribes through both images and text as traditional cultures were changing.
After returning to Seattle, Curtis obtained funding from J. P. Morgan, formed the North American Indian Company, and went to work. Over the next 30 years, he photographed and visited more than 80 tribes throughout the western United States, from Oklahoma to Alaska.
His monumental work, The North American Indian, contained more than 2,200 images, some reproduced in volumes of text and others issued as loose photogravures in portfolio cases. Sets were sold by subscription. The Morgan Library still holds examples, and the King of England purchased a set.
Many memorable images came from this work: Chief Joseph, Mosa, Watching the Dancers, Oasis in the Badlands, Cañon de Chelly, and many others. Curtis became known as much for his art as for his documentation.
Curtis made his photographs on glass negatives. To reproduce the images for The North American Indian, they were transferred through the photogravure process to copper printing plates using a method developed in France. Curtis continued to edit the copper, making each plate the unique final expression of its image.
After the project was cut short during the Great Depression, the Curtis copper photogravure plates languished in a Boston warehouse until they were rediscovered in the 1970s. My partner and I became the fifth group to own these plates when we purchased them in 1982. We have now owned them for 44 years.
Perhaps because we were accountants rather than members of the photographic or institutional community, we saw something different in the copper photogravure plates. We began selling them as unique, individual collectibles to people interested in Native American culture and art, tribal communities, Western art collectors, and institutions.
We have sold hundreds of Curtis copper plates, some for more than six figures, and we have kept meticulous sales records.
Chief Joseph now hangs next to a Basquiat in a New York City penthouse. Earlier, Sotheby’s had told us to throw that plate away as useless and worthless. Later, Sotheby’s auctioned Bear’s Belly for $81,000 — a complete turnaround. In many cases, a Curtis copper plate has sold at retail for more than another instance of the same Curtis image, including gold-tones, silver prints, and platinum prints.
My partner and I are now in our 80s, and we have decided to divide the remaining copper photogravure plates we own. I have hand-picked the plates now in my possession, and they can be explored and purchased here at CurtisCamp. Some are personal favorites.
New owners become stewards in the continuing conservation and care of these remarkable objects.