Views from the Reservation (Center Books on American Places)
by: Willis, John

Hardcover. Center for American Places, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 184 pages. Professor and photographer John Willis is well aware of the exploitation that sometimes occurs when photographers enter impoverished communities for a project. So, in 1992, when he first traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the southwest corner of South Dakota, he assured the elders of the Oglala Lakota Sioux that he would not be exhibiting any of the images he took while there. Over time, however, Willis earned the respect and trust of the community, and the elders--hoping that the photographs might bring aid to their community--urged him to show his work. The product of several visits to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Views from the Reservation is meant to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to the life, culture, and conditions of the Oglala Lakota people.