Lee Marmon, Lupe Garcia Siow (Laguna)
Lee Marmon
1925-2021
Laguna Pueblo
Date
1960
Medium Specific
Photograph
Classification
Photograph
Dimensions
20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Accession Number
2008.20.10.71
Credit
Gift of the Artist
Memo / Artist Statement
Born and raised in Laguna village, Lupe Garcia Siow (1890-1977) survived the smallpox epidemic during her youth that killed many Laguna people. If you look closely at the photograph, you can see the residual pockmarks from the disease on Lupe's face. That epidemic, along with earlier epidemics of smallpox, measles, and diphtheria, devastated the Laguna population.
Although she attended school for a few years at the old meeting hall, Lupe was more interested in her pottery. she became an excellent potter and sold her wares to passengers on the Santa Fe trains that stopped at Laguna. I attended school with one of Lupe's six children, Louise, and I came to know Lupe, as did other villagers, as a very good storyteller and cook. (Marmon, Laguna Pueblo: A Photographic History, p.128)
Although she attended school for a few years at the old meeting hall, Lupe was more interested in her pottery. she became an excellent potter and sold her wares to passengers on the Santa Fe trains that stopped at Laguna. I attended school with one of Lupe's six children, Louise, and I came to know Lupe, as did other villagers, as a very good storyteller and cook. (Marmon, Laguna Pueblo: A Photographic History, p.128)
Biography
One of America’s most renowned Native American photographers, Marmon began his career in 1947, photographing elders and members of his community in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. Over the past fifty years Marmon’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. His diverse portfolio includes work with Columbia Pictures, official photographer for the Bob Hope Desert Classic for eight years, a Commission for the White House in 1972, and most recently photographing for the American Indian College Fund. The portfolio features photographic prints from throughout his career.