Traditional Subjects

Native American Photography — A Forty-Year Photo Documentary

What began as a photo documentary of life at Wounded Knee, South Dakota evolved into a forty-year project documenting Native Americans across the country — on reservations, in their homes, at powwows, and in all aspects of their daily lives in modern America.

One work from this project is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

"I don't pretend to know everything about the many Native American cultures and customs. Trying to represent or speak for another culture is hazardous at best. I'll never truly understand most of it, but I'm interested and I'm learning. In spite of my ambitions, the images can't help but reflect my perceptions. I'll always be an outsider, but hopefully respectful and respected." — James Cook

▾ Browse the galleries and slideshows below. ▾ For prints: Traditional Subjects. ▾ For the stories behind the images: Native American photo essays. ▾ For everything else I write: Catching Shadows. ▾ For exhibitions, licensing, or acquisitions: contact me directly.

Traditional Subjects

A gallery of images available as limited edition, archival prints.

Riders on the 1990 Centennial Ride to Wounded Knee, South Dakota

The Ride to Wounded Knee

Backstory - The story behind the 1990 Centennial Ride

Slide Shows

Portraits of Contemporary Native Americans exhibit at the Holland Museum, Michigan, 2022

Holland Museum Exhibit

From February to June 2022, the Holland (MI) Museum hosted an exhibit of my Portraits of Contemporary Native Americans. Here's a slideshow of the exhibit in case you missed the real thing.

Portrait of a Native American elder — Traditional Subjects series, James Cook

Portraits

Slideshow - Portraits of Native American individuals, couples and families

Native American pow wow dancer in traditional regalia

Dancers

Slideshow - Dancers and landscapes in various parts of the country with descriptions of the outfits and dances.

Sweet Grass Moon Pow Wow

Slideshow - The Gun Lake Tribe's annual Sweet Grass Moon Pow Wow in Michigan.

Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Slideshow - A documentary of life on the rez in the 1980's.

PBS: 10,000 Eyes

Video - Five minutes on my work at Wounded Knee, excerted from a national PBS broadcast on contemporary photographers, . (Edited from original videotape)