PHOTOGRAPHS
Vroman, Adam Clark
U.S. (1856 - 1916)
East side of Walpi, from North
c. 1895 -1897
Albumen print
6 9/16 x 9 5/8 in. (16.7 x 24.5 cm) image and sheet size
Monsen Study Collection of Photography, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen
FA 79.187

A railroad man turned bookseller and amateur photographer, Adam Clark Vroman first journeyed to the Southwest in 1892 where he was invited to join a group traveling to witness a Hopi ritual. Vroman gladly went along and began taking photographs of the local populations. Although we do not have an exact title for this particular work, other photographs taken by Vroman indicate this is an image of the Walpi pueblo village of the Hopi.

It is said that Vroman’s primary objective as a documentary photographer was to record the Southwestern landscape, the inhabitants of the land, and the remains of the Spanish Colonial period. However, this view may minimize his actual contribution. With his camera, Vroman captured personalities, traditions, and the everyday activities that made up life at the end of the nineteenth century, all the while remaining sensitive to his photographic subjects. It is this sensitivity that Vroman is best known for; unlike his contemporaries, he refrained from sensationalism, sentimentalism, or propaganda. -- Label copy for 150 Works of Art, October 1, 2005 to February 26, 2006.