NDNZ in The City

PAMELA J. PETERS is an Indigenous photographer from the Navajo Reservation; her Diné first clan is Táchii’nii (Red Running Into the Water People). Pamela’s multimedia photography and video work explore her vision of what she calls “Indigenous Realism,” which examines the lives and complexities of contemporary American Indians. Her work pushes viewers to critically analyze the psychological and historical structures underlying the representation of Native Americans in mass media. As a Navajo living in the city, she has experienced firsthand the social impact of the negative, inaccurate, and insulting images of stereotyped American Indians still seen in film and television, and she is inspired by her mission to counteract those stereotypes. The portraits she takes are imbued with the Indigenous people living today, not inhabiting some clichéd, pre-modern past, and she focuses on American Indians in Los Angeles.

Her photography has been featured at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, Arts District Los Angeles Photo Collective, These Days Gallery, Venice Arts Gallery, The Main Museum, and featured in the Los Angeles Times, Reuters News, Cowboys & Indians Magazine, Native Max Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine,Pasadena Magazine, Indian Country Today and American Indian Quarterly Journal. Her photography is being featured at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California, in February 2019.