Mixed media photograph of a Native American man riding a horse
Image Credit

Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke, b. 1981), Catalogue Number 1941.30.1, from the series Accession, 2019. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2020.166.5. © Wendy Red Star

Speaking with Light

Contemporary Indigenous Photography
February 19, 2023 – May 22, 2023

Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke, b. 1981), Catalogue Number 1941.30.1, from the series Accession, 2019. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2020.166.5. © Wendy Red Star

Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography is one of the first major museum surveys to explore the practices of Indigenous photographers working over the past three decades. Featuring works by more than 30 contemporary Indigenous photographers, the exhibition highlights the historically underrepresented views and voices of Indigenous communities. The works aim to shift power dynamics and bring attention to misrepresentations by focusing on Indigenous perspectives, exploring themes of history, loss, identity, and representation.

The exhibition features photographs from both emerging and established artists, including Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Taskigi/Diné), Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke), Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂), and Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock). The show will also include dynamic installations by Kapulani Landgraf (Kanaka´Ōiwi), Jolene Rickard (Skarù·rę’/Tuscarora), and Alan Michelson (Mohawk member of Six Nations of the Grand River).

Speaking With Light was curated by John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and Navajo/Diné artist and curator Will Wilson, and is on view February 19, 2023, through May 22, 2023. Entry is included with general admission, which is free for everyone 18 and under every day, as well as museum members.

Share your visit online using #SpeakingwithLightatDAM
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Hamilton Building, Level 1
Included in general admission
Black and white photograph from the 1950s of a Native American man sitting in a crowded bus

Zig Jackson (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara, b. 1957), Indian Man on the Bus, Mission District, San Francisco, California, 1994. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.7. © Zig Jackson Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, North Dakota

Man sitting on steps with arrows shot through his chest

Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock, b. 1990), Nothing Happened Here #10, 2016. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.9. © Jeremy Dennis

Young woman standing in messy kitchen wearing a yellow mask over her face

Kiliii Yüyan (Nanai/Hèzhé and Chinese-American, b. 1979), Joy Mask, IK, from the series Masks of Grief and Joy, 2018. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.41. © Kiliii Yüyan

Black and white profile photograph of a Native American woman

Kali Spitzer (Kaska Dena/Jewish, b. 1987), Audrey Siegl, 2019. Chromogenic print with audio: Owl Song. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.58. © Kali Spitzer

Road sign that reads "Indian River" with the word "land" graffitied over river

Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit and Unangax̂, b. 1979), Get Comfortable, 2012. Chromogenic print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.42. © Nicholas Galanin

A man and a woman submerged in water

Cara Romero (Chemehuevi, b. 1977), Water Memory, 2015. Inkjet print, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.54. © Cara Romero. All rights reserved.

Photograph of the sky above the clouds

Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, b. 1984), Teją́. The Sea. It’s neither our name for the great lakes or lesser lakes. It’s the sea, and we said we were from the north and from the salt. It’s too much right now. Too much like learning that my father performed the Breathings his entire life. I have recordings of him, and I heard them when I was little, and I said them myself after his death., 2020. Inkjet print with etched words. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.30. © skyhopinka

A man holding up a curtain to a gallery filled with photographs, animals, and people

Rosalie Favell (Canadian, Metis (Cree/English/Scottish, b. 1958), The Collector/The Artist in Her Museum, 2005. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.56. © Rosalie Favell

Desert landscape with children running in the foreground and solar windmills in the background

Cara Romero (Chemehuevi, b. 1977), Evolvers, 2019. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.55. © Cara Romero. All rights reserved.

Man sitting on steps with arrows shot through his chest

Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock, b. 1990), Nothing Happened Here #10, 2016. Inkjet print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.9. © Jeremy Dennis

Online Exhibition Guide

An online guide is available for select exhibitions, allowing visitors to take a closer look at the artworks and corresponding wall text. Look for a QR code inside the exhibition to load the guide onto your phone or browse online ahead of your visit.

Video Interviews

Watch a video overview of Speaking with Light from exhibition co-curators Will Wilson, Navajo/Diné artist and curator, and John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, as well as series of interviews with artists featured in the show.

Share your visit with #SpeakingwithLightatDAM and #PhotographyatDAM

Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography is organized by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. The exhibition is co-curated by John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photographs, and Will Wilson, Photography Program Head at Santa Fe Community College and a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Major support for the exhibition is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Texas Commission on the Arts. The accompanying publication is supported in part by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

The Denver Art Museum exhibition is supported by The Christensen Fund, donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS Colorado.