The Indian Picture Opera
Encyclopedia
The Indian Picture Opera is a magic lantern
slide show by photographer Edward S. Curtis
. In the early 1900's, Curtis published the renowned 20-volume book subscription entitled "The North American Indian". He compiled about 2400 photographs with detailed ethnological and language studies of tribes of the American West.
In 1911, in an effort to promote his book sales, Curtis created a traveling Magic Lantern slide show "The Indian Picture Opera".
Stereo-Opticon projectors put Curtis's stunning images on screens in America's largest cities.... one scene dissolving into another. A small orchestra played music derived from Indian chants and rhythms, and Edward Curtis lectured on the intimate stories of tribal life.
This Magic Lantern show played to breathless audiences, stunned by the humanity, fascinated by the imagery, and shamed by the destruction of Indian cultures. The shows received standing ovations, and generous reviews.
Curtis went on to Produce and Direct "In the Land of the Head Hunters
" in 1914. This production was a full length documentary motion picture of aboriginal North Americans.
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In 2006 there was a contemporary remake of the Picture Opera, published on DVD.
Following the original script, images and music were reconstituted into a modern day multi-media production of The Indian Picture Opera.
Magic lantern
The magic lantern or Laterna Magica is an early type of image projector developed in the 17th century.-Operation:The magic lantern has a concave mirror in front of a light source that gathers light and projects it through a slide with an image scanned onto it. The light rays cross an aperture , and...
slide show by photographer Edward S. Curtis
Edward S. Curtis
Edward Sheriff Curtis was a photographer of the American West and of Native American peoples.-Early life:...
. In the early 1900's, Curtis published the renowned 20-volume book subscription entitled "The North American Indian". He compiled about 2400 photographs with detailed ethnological and language studies of tribes of the American West.
In 1911, in an effort to promote his book sales, Curtis created a traveling Magic Lantern slide show "The Indian Picture Opera".
Stereo-Opticon projectors put Curtis's stunning images on screens in America's largest cities.... one scene dissolving into another. A small orchestra played music derived from Indian chants and rhythms, and Edward Curtis lectured on the intimate stories of tribal life.
This Magic Lantern show played to breathless audiences, stunned by the humanity, fascinated by the imagery, and shamed by the destruction of Indian cultures. The shows received standing ovations, and generous reviews.
Curtis went on to Produce and Direct "In the Land of the Head Hunters
In the Land of the Head Hunters
In the Land of the Head Hunters is a 1914 silent film fictionalizing the world of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, written and directed by Edward S. Curtis and acted entirely by Kwakwaka'wakw natives...
" in 1914. This production was a full length documentary motion picture of aboriginal North Americans.
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In 2006 there was a contemporary remake of the Picture Opera, published on DVD.
Following the original script, images and music were reconstituted into a modern day multi-media production of The Indian Picture Opera.
| Contents of The Indian Picture Opera (remake 2006) | ||
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External links and references
- The Indian Picture Opera Pictures and words by Edward S. Curtis, newly recreated on DVD
- Magic Lantern Society of the United States & Canada