Classic ideas, new direction for photographer

Trained as a photographer and motion-picture camera operator, Samuella Samaniego has assembled several bodies of work in black-and-white over the past two decades. In her solo debut at Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art in Discovery Park, the 44-year-old Alaska Native American has dropped the Indian dance scenes she is best known for in favor of a stunning group of images taken in Seattle, New York, Chicago, Florida, England and France.

Samaniego has taken hundreds of photographs of sacred native ceremonies. Some of them were published this year in "Celebration," a book devoted to her work with commentary by poet and critic Gail Tremblay, published by Best Dog Editions.

But in the current show, she addresses the entire history of photography with references to similar subjects of the great early photographers and continuing right up to the present with familiar scenes of American architecture, streets, and landscapes. It's as if, in one fell swoop, she is educating herself in both the history of her chosen medium and its greatest figures. At her best, Samaniego transcends her identifiable predecessors and breaks through to her own brilliant, clear-eyed vision of a black-and-white world.

Spanning only three years' work, from 1999 to 2002, Samaniego's path of growth has covered decades of the medium's history. Photo enthusiasts and art lovers alike will warm to the contrasts and subtleties of her extraordinary darkroom skills at making the selenium-toned, silver gelatin prints. The 50 prints on view create a handsome and dignified installation, beautifully lighted and amply spaced.

The earliest shots are details of the Chief Joseph Dam in eastern Washington. The strong curves of the dam front and huge turbines hark back to Works Progress Administration photos of the 1930s. Other scenes capture architecture in Chicago and sensitive nature studies in Seattle's city parks. "Jockey Street" (2000) is of the entrance to the fabled "21" Club restaurant in New York. The artist shrewdly draws attention to the objectification of people in the metal jockey statues (not that different from cigar-store Indians).

The French street, storefront, interiors and cathedral views comprise the largest series. Besides using her Contax 35mm camera, Samaniego employs a Swedish Hasselblad panoramic camera to great effect. Although beautifully printed, these are hardly original ideas, bringing to mind French photo giants like Eugène Atget, Jacques-Henri Lartigue and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Still, they chronicle an American's response to France. As she said in a recent interview, "I can just walk down the street and experience all of their history."

The best of the Paris photos are of cemetery gates in the Passy neighborhood and an elegant window with voile curtains looking out onto a street. Other images taken in the town of Pontlevoy of old waterwheels, a cat on a chair, and a few panoramic street scenes merit longer looks. There is also an unusual self-portrait aimed into a mirror above an antique chest with two antique dolls side by side.

Male and female nudes, such as "Hands Holding" and "Francesca" (both 2001), suggest a fruitful future direction. They may be surpassed, however, by the wide-angle landscapes of Skagit Valley, Snoqualmie Falls and Giverny, France. In "Ice Caves #1 and #2" (2002), Samaniego adapts the sensuous curves of her nudes to the stark white shapes of the ice caves.

With such a strong beginning and so much historical territory covered all at once, Samaniego seems ready to embark on more fully individual, less derivative work. The nudes and the landscapes seem the most personal, however, and could lead to great achievements.