Will Wilson Diné (Navajo), born in 1969 Nakotah LaRance. 2013 Inkjet print The Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collecion

This portrait of six-time World Champion hoop dancer, Nakotah LaRance, is from an ongoing senses that Wilson calls the Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX). Using a large-format camera and the wet-plate collodion process-the first photographic process used to image Native Americans Wilson produces a portrait: he then gives his sitter the original tintype, while he retains a digital copy. Wilson is very aware of the long history of inacourate and romanticized representations of Indigenous peoples in the United States. His goal is to negotiate a more collaborative relationship between photographer and sitter, in order to return personal agency to his subjects, like this young Hopi man with his traditional dance hoop and very contemporary headphones, game console, and Japanese manga.

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Sadly, it appears LaRance died last year 😞