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- By Kristen Lilya
Friday, April 4th, 2025
12:00 pm ET / 11:00 am CT / 10:00 am MT / 9:00 am PT
For more than a decade, photographer Shane Balkowitsch has been capturing the spirit of Native America through an ancient and nearly forgotten art form—wet plate photography.
Using a 19th-century process known as wet plate collodion, Balkowitsch has documented over 860 Indigenous people as part of his ongoing series, Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective. His mission? To create 1,000 portraits that honor the resilience, beauty, and cultural legacy of Native peoples.
In this episode of Native Bidaské, we sit down with Balkowitsch to discuss his journey into wet plate photography, his experiences working with Indigenous communities, and his recent session with Leonard Peltier, the iconic Native activist who was recently granted clemency after nearly 50 years of incarceration. One of the resulting portraits, Clemency, has already been selected by the Library of Congress for its collection, cementing its place in history.
Join us as we explore the deeper significance of these images, the stories they tell, and why preserving Indigenous identity through photography is more important than ever.
📅 Date: Friday April 4th at 12 pm ET
📍 Where to Watch: Native News Online’s Facebook & YouTube
📣 Spread the word and join us LIVE on Friday, April 4th, at noon ET on Native News Online’s Facebook, YouTube channel, or you can watch live below.
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