In conjunction with the NIEA conference I photographed in Portland, there was a Native American Pow Wow held where both local and visiting native people were able to dance, sing, drum, and tell stories together in a pow wow setting. I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect for my first pow wow photography venture, but I wasn’t disappointed.
I’ve been to a few pow wows in the past; this was my first experience doing pow wow photography and it was interesting to move around and capture different angles as the dancers moved into and around the venue.
The focus of the pow wow, and the focus of my photographs was on the dancers, and specifically on the colorful regalia worn by the native dancers. The dancers spanned several generations; from young children to elders all seemed to be having a good time. I’m thankful that my client invited me to photograph this event and I hope to do more of this sort of work again.
