Chapter One

photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.

—Arnold Newman

INTRODUCTION

This section presents a collection of portraits from the past. They are a very mixed, diverse bunch. Some of these images come from the 1840s—the earliest days of photography. Others were shot as recently as the 1970s.

Acknowledged masters made some of these portraits. Others are the work of obscure photographers whose names are now lost to us forever. Some show persons familiar to us all. Others present the likenesses of those whose identities and accomplishments are long forgotten. Some are amusing; others speak to us of horror and tragedy.

But as mixed a group as this is, despite the variety of the group, the images in it share much in common. Looked at individually, each of these pictures shows us how different photographers— working at different times, with the different techniques and technologies available to them—have gone about the business of recording the likenesses of their fellow humans. Taken as a group, these portraits provide an overview of a particular slice of the human experience.

Bull Chief Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952)

This portrait of the Apsaroke or Northern Crow—Indian warrior, Bull Chief, was taken by Curtis as part of his effort to record "... the old time Indians, his dress, his ceremonies, his life and manners."

(Courtesy of the National Archives, Washington, D.C.)

Portrait of Miss K Zaida Ben-Yusuf (1869-1933)

T