Vintage McNeil Photography
FEATHER SERIES, 1491 (1 OF 5)
FEATHER SERIES, 1491 (1 OF 5), 1992. I was asked to participate in the "Message Carriers" photography exhibition by Theresa Harlan, an independent curator. The premise of the group exhibition was to offer our interpretation of what it meant to be 500 years past the arrival of Columbus. I used a feather as a metaphor for Indigenous identity from the Americas.
My intent was to make a photograph that invoked the notion of possibilities that never happened; about how we may have evolved had foreigners from Europe not invaded the Americas. Many of the Native Nations were developing things like metals, and the philosophy of sustainability, or being able to live harmoniously on land was prevalent. The ‘1491’ photograph always seemed kind of like a poetic question mark because the notion does keep me wondering, especially in these times of global climate change…
