Photographic Gallery Display by 

Peggy Fontenot,

 Native American

 photographer, Veteran's Advocate,

and president of "America's Veterans"

Click on logo to visit her site...

www.fontenotphotograhy.com

Peggy Fontenot Photography

Peggy Fontenot has been exhibiting her Fine Art Photography nationally since 1991. She has received numerous awards, which include the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), the Eiteljorg Museum (Indianapolis, IN), Red Earth (Okalahoma City, OK), Cahokia Mounds (Collinsville, IL) and Millard Sheets Gallery (Pomona, CA).  In 2006 she was awarded an L.A. Treasures grant. 

Influenced by her American Indian heritage, Fontenot is currently photographing contemporary Native Americans to show that despite attempts of assimilation by the American government, Indigenous people continue to thrive. This presentation is combined with Tipis of the Plains Tribes, an exhibit of Sepia and Selenium toned Gelatin Silver images depicting American Indian home life, both past and present. 

Debriefing is an exhibit that explores veterans and their personal experiences of reentry into civilian life. This exhibit is currently being hosted by the National Vietnam Art Museum (Chicago, IL, May 2008 through Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2008).  The Museum of History and Art (Ontario, CA) will host the exhibit December 2008 through February 2009.

In late 2008, Fontenot’s exhibit Merging Cultures, which explores the identity of Black Indians, will be on display at the IPS Crispus Attucks Museum, Indianapolis, IN.  In 2009, the Eiteljorg Museum (Indianapolis, IN), will host an exhibit, Intersecting Lives of African and Native Americans, in conjunction with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s banner exhibit, Indivisible, with both exhibits featuring images from Merging Cultures.

Fontenot recently participated in the Red Earth Master Artist exhibit (Omniplex, Oklahoma City, OK – February through March 2008); Current Realities, a group initiative that provided an inclusive exhibition for Indian artists who are a significant part of the Oklahoma experience (IOA Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK - Living Arts of Tulsa - November 2007 – February 2008); Rock Art: Alcatraz Inspired Indian Art (Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, CA - November 2007 through January 2008); North American Indians, (Cahokia Mounds Museum, Collinsville, IL – October - December 2007 where she won a first place award); and a national exhibit, Frybread and Roses, which examined the Native American Labor Movement.  Columbucide, hosted at The Institute of American Indian Art Museum’s Lloyd Kiva Galley, exploring the affects that Columbus’ had on the New World through the Native American’s eyes, is another exhibit that Fontenot recently contributed to.

Fontenot’s activism in social issues led her to produce Secrets Behind The Wall: An American Indian Vietnam Veteran’s Private Battlefield At Home. The exhibit consists of over one hundred black and white images, with the show expanding as the story unfolds. 

Partnering with the Library of Congress’ Veteran History Project; Fontenot who is the co-founder of America’s Veterans, is currently photographing and interviewing veterans from across the United States for an upcoming multi-media traveling exhibit, The Living Wallã, which will honor all living veterans while bringing awareness to who our veterans are and in what conditions they exist today.  Faces of Pride: America’s Veterans, is an introductory exhibit to The Living Wallã, which is currently traveling. 

Fontenot was granted the exclusive permission to photograph the inside of Thunder Mountain, a Nevada Historical Monument built by a Creek Native American WWII Veteran, Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder.  Her exhibit, White Man’s Trash, is currently traveling.

Spontaneous Memorials, which spotlights gravesites along America’s highways, is another project that Fontenot is working on. 

In addition to her fine art and editorial photography, Fontenot has a strong background in product and commercial photography. Her clients include The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) (Los Angeles, CA); Bosnia Relief Fund (Los Angeles, CA); Sweet Medicine Enterprises (Santa Fe, NM); Slick Racing (Hawaii); Just Like Home Café (Marina del Rey, CA); and Dick Clark Racing (Gardnerville, NV), for which she shot two world land-speed records.

Fontenot has been a guest speaker for several photography classes.  She curated a photography show featuring the images of ten Malibu high school students with whom she personally worked with and taught. The show, Young Artists in Progress, was exhibited at the Legal Grind Café in Santa Monica, CA.  She currently mentors young Native photographers.

She also teaches regularly at The San Joaquin River Intertribal Heritage Educational Corporation (Auberry, CA) and Satwiwa Native American Cultural Center (Thousand Oaks, CA).

www.fontenotphotograhy.com

Santa Monica, CA

310 663-0083

pfontenot@earthlink.net