She Sang Me a Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar

She Sang Me a Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar is an exhibition revealing the richness and vibrancy of Native California cultures. Dugan Aguilar (Mountain Maidu/Pit River/Walker River Paiute), a man of few words, speaks his heart through his photography. Aguilar’s photos defy the romanticized and melodramatic images by which Native people are often depicted. Ranging from portraits of military veterans, basket makers, and dancers to meditative landscapes, Aguilar’s work documents—and contributes to—the perseverance and renewal of Native California’s living, vibrant cultures.

28 photographs -- both color and black & white -- reveal the richness and vibrancy of contemporary Native Californian cultures, this traveling exhibit features the work of Dugan Aguilar (Mountain Maidu/Washoe/Pit River/Walker River Paiute). His images provide an intimate look at the lives of current day California Indians. 

Aguilar has documented Native cultures for over 40 years and has exhibited throughout the United States and in Europe. For 30 years he was staff photographer for the California Indian Basketweavers Association and the California Indian Storytellers Association. He resides in Northern California. " 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website |  She Sang Me A Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar is a partnership with Exhibit Envoy, Heyday Books, and the Native Fund, curated by Theresa Harlan and artist Dugan Aguilar.

Image: Dugan Aguilar, Mimi Mullen (Maidu), grand marshal, 1997 Greenville Gold Digger Days Parade, 1997, photograph, image courtesy of the artist and Exhibit Envoy.

Image: Dugan Aguilar, Tuolumne Roundhouse, 1993, black and white photograph, image courtesy of the artist and Exhibit Envoy. 

Whether you go or not, the exhibition catalog, She Sang Me a Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar, presents the work of native photographer, Dugan Aguilar. With nature's light and a camera, he creates images of indigenous California people, photographs that embody the depth of their subjects beauty, strength, and humor. Aguilar's portraits of people, places, and ceremonies combine the intimacy of family photos with the technical skill of a masterful artist.

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