Views from the Reservation

by John Willis

With an essay by Kent Nerburn and contributions from the Lakota people.

"Lyrical, moving, quiet and profound, the photographs taken by John Willis on Pine Ridge are that rare artifact -- art that increases the dignity and beauty of the subject while remaining honest.  Mr. Willis spent many years visiting and revisiting the people and places he photographed.  There is a clear, deep love in many of these images.  Views from the Reservation is a large photography book, a collection, but you wouldn't put it on your coffee table.  I carry my copy from place to place in the house because even the endpapers provoke meditation." ~ Louise Erdrich

            
The product of several visits to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Views from the Reservation is meant to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to the life, culture, and conditions of the Oglala Lakota people. With his insightful and complex images Willis enlists several other voices to offer a more complete story: writer Kent Nerburn, who contributes an original essay; Lakota elders and Pine Ridge High School students, who offer poems; Emil Her Many Horses, the associate curator of the National Museum of the American Indian, Kevin Gover, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, and Oglala Lakota artist Dwayne Wilcox. Accompanying the book is Heartbeat of the Rez, a compact disc collecting traditional songs compiled by the author, the elders, and KILI, the radio station of the reservation.

Comments, Opinions, Reviews

Owen Luck commented on 13-Dec-2010 02:30 PM

John Willis's "Views From the Reservation" is a beautifully photographed, honest, visual story reflecting life on the Pineridge Reservation. There is an intimacy that few non Lakota are allowed to see no less photograph. John's images possess a rare authenticity as he seems to collaborate with each of his subjects, they are his friends and their openness to his presence is testament to his reverence for their spirituality and friendship. By keeping the photographs which include poverty in context, John's photographs allows the viewer to understand the complicated world the Lakota inhabit without reducing them to victimization. Their dignity and honor preserved. John's photographs capture the immediacy of the lives of another culture with the inclusion of Lakota artist Dwayne Wilcox' ledger drawings, the prayers and children's poems help broaden the experience as does the CD.

If you want to get an idea of what life is like on the Pineridge Reservation, this is the book to have.

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