“Rush Gatherer” by photographer Edward Curtis depicts a female of the Arikara tribe gathering rushes. However, the image may potentially say much more. Through analysis using visual rhetoric, one can find many arguments that this image supports and gain further meaning about the piece as a whole.
This photograph depicts a woman looking out at the camera, but with downcast eyes. This may indicate several things. Her downcast eyes coupled with her neutral mouth produce a somber expression; perhaps she is feeling shy, or unhappy. Her expression generally conveys negativity through the position of her eyebrows and her eyes. This may argue that she is shy towards the person taking the photograph or the camera itself. It also may support the argument that she is feeling emotionally distressed. Through this argument, one could try to infer why the woman is upset. It could be because she is working, or perhaps she is upset over whites invading the native lands and causing all sorts of destruction in their path. I believe that analysis would be going too far with the scant evidence provided; however, I do believe that the viewer may gain this impression and thus it is important to think about.
It is also helpful to point out her age in one’s assessment of this woman’s emotional state. She seems like an older woman, as evinced by the visible veins on her hands, as well as the wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes, and on her cheeks. The wrinkle patterns, especially the ones around her eyes and mouth, may contribute to the feeling that this woman is upset. Her eyes seem droopy, her mouth seems to be frowning. It is important to consider, however, this may simply be aspects of her age, and not her emotional state.
It is also interesting to note, as it has been indicated that she is an aged woman, that she is working. One can see this through the large bushel of rushes that she has gathered in her arms. There are also many rushes in the background, indicating the vast amount of work she may be required to perform. The visible veins in her hand perhaps indicate that she is gripping tightly on the bushel. Even with that, however, she doesn’t seem to be exerting herself too much, as she has obviously paused to pose for a photograph. She is remaining still, and, while not directly looking at the camera, seems to have stopped momentarily. With this argument, one can conclude while she is not doing too heavy work, it is manual labor that is being performed by an aged woman. One also could consider that the work that she has performed over the years has made her to look aged, although that may be a precarious argument to take granted the small amount of evidence. In any case, this may argue the tribe that she is in, or even the entire culture, obligates even old women to work.
A final point to be made is the state of dress of the woman. She is fully clothed; not exposed like many other Native American tribeswomen. One may gather that maybe she is from a ‘purer’ or less sexually deviant tribe, who disallows nudity based on decency, however, the text at the bottom of the photograph may give a clearer answer. It says ‘Arikara’ in the lower left corner, next to the title of the photograph. This indicates what tribe the woman is in. The Arikara people were centralized more in the northern part of what is now the United States, where the climate is colder. Thus, one can infer that this woman is wearing full dress simply because the climate lends itself to that state of dress.
Through analysis of these various aspects of this image, one can gain a greater perspective on this photograph, and become more aware of it’s argumentative qualities.
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