The Standing Rock Portraits: Sioux Photographed by Frank Bennet Fiske 1900-1915

The Standing Rock Sioux of Fort Yates in the west of North Dakota have been frequently in the news recently because of the demonstrations against the oil pipeline that crosses their land. Over 100 years ago Frank Bennett Fiske (1883-1952) photographed members of the Standing Rock people in his studio in his birth place Fort Yates. The men and women he portrayed were his friends and neighbors: Native Americans living in the reservation. With a big studio camera, he made photos that have a tremendous depth, on glass negatives that have seldom been shown to the public. Now for the first time these photos are published in a book. Photographer and graphic designer Murray Lemley, also from North Dakota, made a selection of the images for this world premiere of Fiske's work.