Girls at Isleta Day School

Girls at Isleta Day School

c. 1936

Photo by Peter Sekaer

I chose this photograph, Girls at Isleta Day School (c. 1936), because the subject appeared to be playful and full of energy.  I appreciated the sight of healthy looking Native American children playing during the depression era in contrast to many of the other less hopeful photos taken in the United States during this time.  I was further drawn to the photographer, Sekaer, because “he sought to capture the real world with photographs that combined artistic expression with a personal commitment to social change.” (Peter Sekaer, Wikipedia)  He worked for the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) from 1936 – 1942 and photographed Navajo and Pueblo Indians for the Office of Indian Affairs in 1940.  More research would have to be done but it is possible that the photo was taken in 1940. 

This photograph is an example of the “1930’s meaning of a documentary photograph: a subjective interpretation of a social circumstance.” (Ritzenthaler and Vogt-O'Connor, 2006, p. 12)  In a bleak, dry landscape there is a tense and archetypal struggle over forces of nature and culture that are greater then one’s own individual self.  Young children represent an innocence and playful energy in the struggle.  There may be added significance that the children are female.  The girls are also wearing modern dress and shoes, which conform to white culture, while playing a traditional game.  The school is fenced in and landscaped with trees, which are layers of containment and control over Nature and the Native culture.  Sekaer has chosen a vantage point that skews the lines of the tug-of-war and the horizon, thus aligning the human attempt to achieve balance in the process of acculturation.  How did Sekaer feel about the agenda of his employer, The Office of Indian Affairs?  Did he compose the photo in such a way to critique that agenda?

1. Peter Sekaer. In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 27, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sekaer

2. Ritzenthaler, Vogt-O'Connor, Zinkham, Carnell, & Peterson (2006).  Photographs: Archival Care and Management. Chicago: Society of American Archivists.