Book Highlights Indigenous Photographers' Perspectives Throughout History

New book "In Light and Shadow" showcases the work of over 80 Indigenous photographers from North, Central, and South America, and Hawaii.

Published on Mar. 3, 2026

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The new book "In Light and Shadow: A Photographic History from Indigenous America" introduces readers to a range of largely unknown Indigenous photographers from the beginning of photography to today. Co-authored by Inupiaq photographer Brian Adams and researcher Sarah Stacke, the book compiles short essays and over 250 photographs that provide an intimate look into Indigenous communities and cultures, in contrast to the romanticized portrayals of non-Indigenous photographers like Edward Curtis.

Why it matters

The book aims to contribute to the understanding that Indigenous photographers have been making photographs for their own purposes since the 1860s, centering Indigenous communities and stories and rewriting history through ancestral memory, transformation, healing, observation, imagination, kinship, and continuity.

The details

The book features the work of 80 photographers from North, Central, and South America, as well as Hawaii, identified by their cultural group and home place. It includes early photographers like Benjamin Alfred Haldane, a self-taught Tsimshian photographer who documented his people's identities and practices for four decades, and Louis Shotridge, a Tlingit photographer who worked as a curator and collector for the Penn Museum. More recent photographers featured include Martha McGlashan Monsen, who documented her large family's ties to the Aleutian Islands and Bristol Bay over nearly a century, and Brian Adams, the contemporary Inupiaq photographer known for his portraits of Alaska Natives.

  • The book "In Light and Shadow" was published in 2025.
  • The photographs featured in the book span from the 1860s to the present day.

The players

Brian Adams

An Inupiaq photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska, known for his work documenting Alaska Native villages, some of which was featured in his 2017 book "I Am Inuit."

Sarah Stacke

A Euro-American photographer, researcher, and author based in Brooklyn, New York, who co-authored "In Light and Shadow" with Brian Adams.

Benjamin Alfred Haldane

A self-taught Tsimshian photographer who, for four decades, resisted assimilation policies and documented Tsimshian identities and practices.

Louis Shotridge

A Tlingit photographer who worked from 1912-1932 for the Penn Museum in Philadelphia as a curator, collector, and exhibit preparer, mostly doing fieldwork among his own people.

Martha McGlashan Monsen

A photographer from the Aleutian Islands and Bristol Bay who documented her large family's ties to the land and sea over nearly a century.

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What they’re saying

“The work here centers Indigenous communities and stories and rewrites history. It is influenced by ancestral memory, transformation, healing, astute observation, imagination, kinship, and continuity.”

— Brian Adams and Sarah Stacke, Co-authors (In Light and Shadow)

The takeaway

This book provides a valuable and long-overdue platform for Indigenous photographers to share their perspectives and experiences, challenging the romanticized and often inaccurate portrayals of Indigenous peoples by non-Indigenous photographers throughout history.