About the Artist
Frederick Monsen was born in Bergen, Norway in 1865. In the late 1870s, Monsen immigrated with his family to the United States, settling in Utah. His father was a photography teacher and Frederick assisted him with photography for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Monsen worked as a photojournalist and did work on numerous geological surveys and was given numerous assignments by William Henry Jackson. Monsen studied Native American culture and also earned recognition as a geological expert. Monsen focused his work in the American southwest and was the first professional photographer to record candid scenes of daily activities of the Navajo and Hopi peoples. Monsen recorded life at the Pueblos and southwestern tribes including ceremonies, portraits, dances and everyday life. He is also known for photographs of other southwestern subject matter including gold miners, pioneer life, wagons, cliff-dwellings and landscapes.
