Pride and Dignity

Luminace: Aboriginal photographic portraits

Mohawk photographer Shelly Niro's portrait "Standing on Guard for Thee" (Fig. 19) provides a powerful exclamation point for the end of the Aboriginal Portrait exhibition. Her use of space, backdropped by the Joseph Brant monument (urban and cultural landmark), use of family members (the familiar), sparked with humor and irony, and tinged with a bit of surrealism through the use of hand colouring, pulls together the many elements making up contemporary Aboriginal life. Her modern "portrait" thereby creates a new space for us to revisit many of the images within the exhibition, such as "Dakota Woman." Not only can we revisit but we also enter the creative space of the artist whereby old perceptions are continually evaluated, confronted and, hopefully, point us toward a new horizon.

Approaching this exhibition under the banner of portraiture, I drew upon a belief shared by Aboriginals across this continent that decisions made today must consider the unborn, seven generations into the future. I believe my ancestors brought this belief with them when they posed before the photographer's lens. When given the opportunity, the past does speak to us with a sense of luminance.

Source

Three Mohawk women at the base of the Joseph Brant Memorial

 

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