DIGNITY

Updated second edition.

This collection of iconic photographs by Dana Gluckstein honors Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Gluckstein, whether photographing a Haitian healer or a San Bushman elder, succeeds in distilling the universality of experience that links us all without diminishing the dignity of the individual. Dignity includes more than 100 of Gluckstein’s black-and white duotone portraits, made over three decades. The photographs express the theme of tribes in transition by capturing a fleeting period of world history where traditional and contemporary cultures collide.

Dignity’s power, artistry, and impassioned call to action make it a historic book in support of Indigenous Peoples throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, who are among the world’s most impoverished and oppressed inhabitants. It begins with a moving foreword by Nobel Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and an introduction by Oren R. Lyons, Native American Faithkeeper, Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation. The afterword by Dana Gluckstein chronicles the inspiration for the photographs. Powerful epilogues from Nobel Peace Prize winner Amnesty International, advocate for global implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The poetic images that comprise this updated second edition of Dignity are intended to bring greater awareness to the Declaration. The Dignity book advocacy campaign helped create a tipping point for President Obama to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in December 2010. The Declaration is the most comprehensive global statement of the measures every government must enact to ensure the survival and well-being of Indigenous Peoples. Dignity includes the full text of the Declaration.

About the Author

Dana Gluckstein has photographed iconic figures including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Muhammad Ali, and produced award-winning advertising campaigns for clients such as Apple and Toyota. Her portraits of Indigenous Peoples are held in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Gluckstein graduated from Stanford University, where she studied psychology, painting, and photography, and realized the power of images to shape consciousness. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.