Some of Richard Throssel's most striking photographs are the candid images of everyday life on the Crow Reservation. As we saw in his portraits, Throssel did not usually pose his subjects or have them wear traditional clothing. While he did use many of the techniques, aesthetics, and themes of photographers like Edward Curtis, the photos we will look at in this section belie the notion of a Vanishing Race. Instead of romanticizing the past, as some of Throssel's images do, these photos capture the everyday lives of a culture in transition

These are candid photos of people living on the Crow Reservation, in both traditional and contemporary clothing, performing everyday activities. Was Throssel more interested in capturing these candid images of daily life than other photographers, or did his adopted membership in the tribe allow a level of trust with his subjects that wasn't possible for outsiders?

Right, Crow Girls with Dogs, from the American Heritage Center exhibit,
Richard Throssel: Photographer of the Crows

In addition to the images above, Throssel captured candid shots of people involved in daily activities, such as the photograph to the left of Clara White Hip, from the American Heritage Center exhibit, Richard Throssel: Photographer of the Crows. The photos below show a group mixing the tobacco seed for planting, and then planting the tobacco seed.

Throssel also photographed some of the popular games of the Crow Indians. Below on the left is a photograph of the game of arrows, and on the right the game of shinny. Both images are from the American Heritage Center exhibit, Richard Throssel: Photographer of the Crows. The larger version of The Game of Arrows appears in Tamara Northern's To Image and To See.

Throssel photographed many Crow Indian dances. He had access to ceremonies that outsiders, such as Curtis, did not, but he shared this rare image of a North Cheyenne animal dance, along with a description with Curtis. Curtis copyrighted the photograph himself and included it in the 6th volume of The North American Indian in 1911, crediting only the description to Throssel. Below are some of the other dances that Throssel photographed.

Left, The Owl Dance, 1905, National Anthropological Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress Collection, Photo no. 95-1386, In Albright, Crow Indian Photographer

Center, A War Dance, 1905, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs, Photo no. 8V012, LCUSZ62-77116, In Albright, Crow Indian Photographer

Right, Crow War Dancers, ca. 1905-1911, Richard Throssel Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Photo no. 306, in Native Nations

The following series of photographs portrays a culture in transition. From the tipi frame, to the finished tent with a pile of logs beside it, to the two types of dwellings side by side, aptly titled The Old and the New, these photos depict the Crow Indians adapting, rather than focusing on a past that might be "vanishing."

Left, Tipi Frame, from the American Heritage Center exhibit, Richard Throssel: Photographer of the Crows

Center, Untitled Image of Tipi, Tent, Hewn Logs, ca. 1905-1911, Richard Throssel Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Photo no. 189, in Albright Crow Indian Photographer

Right, The Old and the New, ca 1910, Graham and Susan Nash Collection, Los Angeles, Photo no. 826, in Albright Crow Indian Photographer

While Throssel did learn many of his photography techniques from Curtis, as we have seen, he did have some innovations of his own. One of the most striking elements of Throssel's style is his ability to capture the sense of motion. Perhaps this stems from the candid, rather than posed, nature of a lot of his images. Below are some of the images we have seen that exemplify this technique