Ho-con-ja-gab Moche he (Thunder Cloud.), No. 480 from the series "Among the Winnebago Indians"

Art Historical Context

Step into the world of 19th-century America with *Ho-con-ja-gab M he (Thunder Cloud.),. 480 from the "Among the Winneb Indians"* by Henry Hamilton Bennett. This intimate portrait captures a member of the Ho-ChunkWinnebago) tribe known as Thunder Cloud, likely posed in traditional attire amid the scenic Wisconsin Dells. Created between1870 and 1908, it reflects Bennett's mastery as a pioneering landscape and ethnographic photographer, whose studio in Kilbourn (now Wisconsin Dells) churned out thousands of images that brought the American Midwest to living rooms nationwide. The artwork is a stereo albumen print—a pair of nearly identical photographs mounted on a card, designed to be viewed through a stereoscope for a striking three-dimensional effect. Albumen prints, made with egg whites for a glossy sheen, were the gold standard of the era, offering rich detail and tonal depth. Bennett's innovative techniques, like precise timing for natural light, made his stereographs immersive windows into vanishing cultures during a time of rapid U.S. expansion and Native American displacement. Held in the Art Institute of Chicago's Photography and Media department, this piece holds cultural weight as part of a series documenting Ho-Chunk life, blending artistry with early anthropology. It invites us to ponder the gaze of the past: a dignified figure preserved in miniature (each image just 7.9 × 7.4 cm), evoking both wonder and the poignant passage of time.

About the Artist

Henry Hamilton Bennett · 1843–1908

Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843–1908) was a pioneering American photographer whose breathtaking images of the Wisconsin Dells transformed a rugged river gorge into one of the nation's premier tourist destinations. Born in Farnham, Quebec, Canada, on January 15, 1843, Bennett moved with his family to Brattleboro, Vermont, before settling in Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells), Wisconsin, in 1857 at ag...