Russel Albert Daniels is a documentary photographer and multidisciplinary artist based in Salt Lake City whose work illuminates overlooked histories of the American West, with particular focus on Indigenous communities and their contemporary experiences. His ongoing project La Cautiva examines centuries of Spanish colonial and Mormon settler Indigenous captivity and enslavement in the American Southwest Borderlands through portraiture, landscape photography, and documentation of cultural performance.

The first chapter of La Cautiva - The Genízaro Pueblo of Abiquiú - was exhibited at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in New York (2022-2023). This initial chapter documents the contemporary descendants of Indigenous captives in northern New Mexico who maintain their unique cultural identity and traditions. From May 2024 to May 2026, the Tacoma Art Museum will present The Abiqueños and The Artist, a groundbreaking exhibition developed in collaboration with Daniels and by Dr. Patricia Marroquin Norby (Purépecha), the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first Indigenous curator. The exhibition pairs Daniels' Abiquiú photographs with Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings of the same landscape, creating a conversation between O'Keeffe's romantic vision of northern New Mexico and the living history of its Indigenous inhabitants.

La Cautiva emerges from Daniels' own family history - his Diné (Navajo) ancestor Rose was taken captive as a child in the 1850s from Dinétah, the Navajo homeland, during a White River Ute slave raid. She endured years of bondage among the Utes in Colorado and Utah before being trafficked into the new Utah Territory and sold to polygamist Mormon settler Aaron Daniels. After marrying Aaron and having four children, Rose enrolled with the Uintah & Ouray Reservation in 1889. Through his Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) maternal lineage and as the first generation in five born off the Ute reservation, Daniels navigates the complexities of Indigenous and settler colonial heritage in his work.

His reportage and documentary projects have covered pivotal Indigenous rights issues including the Bears Ears National Monument, Standing Rock protests, Two-Spirit identity, and climate crisis impacts on Native lands. Working primarily across Utah, the Mountain West, Southwest, and Great Basin regions, Daniels' photography helps illuminate complex narratives that challenge conventional histories of western expansion while celebrating Indigenous resilience and contemporary presence.

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Russel's photographs are included in the permanent collections of The Library of Congress, Washington, DC, Utah Museum of Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT, Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN, National Gallery Of Art/Library Acquisitions, Greater Landover, MD, The State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection, Salt Lake City, UT, Salt Lake County Visual Art Collection, UT, Amon Carter Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX, and J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

His work has been exhibited nationally at venues including:

- Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian

- Minneapolis Institute of Art

- Tacoma Art Museum

- Eiteljorg Museum

- Utah Valley University Museum

- Utah Museum of Fine Art

Russel's photographs have appeared in publications such as National Geographic, The New York Times, Mother Jones, High Country News, ProPublica, Emergence Magazine, Popular Mechanics, and Sierra Magazine.

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January 2024 Artist Talk at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Russel spoke about how his ancestral connections to Utah and the Southwest helped create the visual storyteller and artist he is today. This was followed by a conversation with Emily Lawhead, UMFA associate curator.

March 2024 The Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis exhibited the complete first chapter of La Cautiva titled The Genízaro Pueblo of Abiquiú, made in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Russel participated in an Indigenous photographer panel at the opening event alongside photographers Tailyr Irvine and Donovan Quintero.

May 2024 The Tacoma Art Museum hosted select works from La Cautiva in an exhibition entitled The Abiquiños and The Artist. Twelve images from the project were displayed in conversation with original Georgia O'Keeffe paintings to demonstrate the art historical legacy of northern New Mexico. The show was curated by Patricia Marroquin Norby (Purépecha), the first Indigenous curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

September 2024 Wild Rose’s – photography and ink drawings – Material Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 2023, Russel's photography was included in the following group exhibitions: In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now at Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Art of Belonging at UVU Museum of Art, Utah, Shaping Landscape: 100 Years of Photography in Utah at Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and Mother Wound public exhibition at Celebration of the Hand, Craft Lake City, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Contact Russel: russel (at) russeldaniels (dot) com

Email Russel about prints and zines.

Russel is a member of Indigenous Photograph and Diversify Photo

Photo by Chad Kirkland

Russel Albert Daniels – CV

Born: 1974

Education

  • 2009: BA, The School of Journalism, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

Solo and Multi-Person Exhibitions

  • 2024: Wild Roses – photographs and drawings – Material Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2024: The Abiqueños and The Artist – curated by Dr. Patricia Marroquin Norby, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

  • 2024: Developing Stories: The Genízaro Pueblo of Abiquiú – Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN

  • 2023: Mother Wound – Essential Photo Supply, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2023: Mother Wound – Craft Lake City, Celebration of the Hand, Public Art exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2022: Developing Stories: The Genízaro Pueblo of Abiquiú – curated by Cecile Ganteaume, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, NYC

  • 2016: Blossom as a Rose – God Hates Robots, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2009: Love Your Body – University Center, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

  • 2004: Bosnia – Anderson Foothill Library, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 1996: Darkroom – Bibliotech, Salt Lake City, UT

Group Exhibitions

  • 2023: In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now – Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN

  • 2023: Shaping Landscape: 100 Years of Photography in Utah – Utah Museum of Fine Arts

  • 2023: The Art of Belonging – Utah Valley University, Museum of Art, Orem, UT

  • 2020: Fotobok Festival – Oslo, Norway

  • 2019: A World Transformed: the Transcontinental Railroad and Utah – Rio Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2018: Cubanidad – traveling exhibition, Utah Arts & Museums, UT

  • 2011: Free the Hikers, San Francisco, CA

  • 2010: Kiss, Kayo Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2008: Juried Exhibition, Gallery Saintonge, Missoula, MT

  • 2007: Inner Primate, Red Light Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2005: Apparatus, Print Exchange, Monk's Pop-Up Gallery, Salt Lake, UT

  • 2004: Citizen, Print Exchange, Walk of Shame Gallery, Salt Lake, UT

  • 2003: Statewide Photographic Exhibition, Eccles Community Art Center, Ogden, UT

Publications

  • 2023: Mother Wound, self-published, open edition artist book/zine

  • 2023: In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now, exhibition catalog – Minneapolis Institute of Art

  • 2018: Bears Ears, self-published, limited edition artist book/zine, photography by Russel Albert Daniels, poem by Denae Shanidiin, essay by Terry Tempest Williams

  • 2017: Wasatch XXX, self-published, open edition artist book/zine, photography and essay by Russel Albert Daniels

Permanent Collections

  • The Library of Congress, Washington, DC

  • Utah Museum of Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT

  • Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN

  • National Gallery Of Art/Library Acquisitions, Greater Landover, MD

  • The State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection, Salt Lake City, UT

  • Salt Lake County Visual Art Collection, UT

  • Amon Carter Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX

  • J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Commissions/Published Work

High Country News, ProPublica, Emergence Magazine, National Geographic, The New York Times, Mother Jones, Sierra Magazine, The New Yorker, Smithsonian American Indian Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, Catchlight, Gizmodo, Associated Press, Native Voices, SLUG Magazine, Elsevier, Latino USA, The Bay Citizen, NPR, KUER, Popular Mechanics

Honors, Awards, and Grants

  • 2024: Frontier Fellow at the Epicenter

  • 2023: The Yunghi Grant, Awardee

  • 2022: The Aftermath Project, Finalist

  • 2021: Utah Arts & Museums Visual Arts, Artist Fellowship

  • 2021: National Geographic Society, COVID-19 Emergency Fund

  • 2011: 44 Second Ode to Newspaper, Tiny Video First Place, Albany Film Festival, CA

  • 2010: Blackfeet Juveniles System, Society of Professional Journalist, multimedia, 4th place

  • 2008: Chips Quinn Scholar, Freedom Forum, Workshop

  • 2008: The Great Falls Tribune, Scholarship

  • 2008: Joe Durso Project Grant, University of Montana, The School of Journalism

  • 2008: Native American Journalists Association, Scholarship

  • 2006: Associated Press, Diverse Voices/Diverse Vision, Cincinnati, OH

  • 2005: American Indian Journalism Institute, Freedom Forum, SD, Workshop & Scholarship

  • 2005: Nikon Photographer's Forum Magazine Contest, Finalist

  • 2004: Eccles Community Art Center, UT, print competition, 2nd place

Work Experience

  • 2012, 2011: Crazy Horse Journalism Workshop, mentor, Black Hills, SD

  • 2009: Associated Press, photojournalism contract, San Francisco, CA

  • 2008: Associated Press, photojournalism internship, Chicago, IL

  • 2006: Saint Cloud Times, photojournalism internship, St. Cloud, MN

  • 2005: Argus Leader, photojournalism internship, Sioux Falls, SD

  • 2005: Spy Hop, photo instructor, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2003: Youth City, photo instructor, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 1999: Black and White on White, darkroom printer, New York City, NY

  • 1996: Wyeth, furniture refinisher, New York City, NY

  • 1992: Daniels Painting INC., journeyman painter, Salt Lake City, UT

Talks, Lectures, & Podcasts

  • 2024: Artist Talk at Utah Museum of Fine Arts, UT

  • 2023: Presentation to Granite Library Photo Club, Millcreek, UT

  • 2023: Visual Sovereignty: Native American Artists and the Power of the Lens, Crit-Salon, Modern West Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT

  • 2023: Art of Belonging artist panel, Utah Valley University Museum, Orem, UT

  • 2023: Native America Calling Indigenous Photographer panel podcast

  • 2023: Fresh Focus on Native American Photography panel, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, NYC

  • 2020: Zion Canyon Mesa interview podcast

  • 2020: Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian video conversation

Articles & Interviews

  • 2024: Salt Lake Underground Magazine, Wild Roses exhibition review

  • 2023: 15 Bytes review of Mother Wound Public Art exhibition

  • 2023: DP Review aerial photography interview with Russel by Jeanette Moses

  • 2023: Southwest Contemporary artist profile of Russel by Scotti Hill

  • 2023: Interview with Cultural Survival

  • 2023: The Salt Lake Tribune Thanksgiving Indigenous interview

  • 2018: Salt Lake Underground Magazine, artist profile