Photographer Nolan Streitberger has created a remarkable body of work that merges art, history, and deeply personal storytelling through his acclaimed project "Oregon's Trail of Tears." Using the historic wet plate collodion photographic process, Streitberger has meticulously documented the brutal route of forced removal that Southern Oregon's Indigenous tribes were compelled to travel during the 1850s. His work transforms stunning photography into both historical documentation and meaningful dialogue, serving as a powerful means of reclaiming forgotten memories and amplifying stories that have long been overlooked.

Streitberger's journey into photography began entirely by chance during his junior year of high school. He was accepted into Oregon State University's JumpstART program, a specialized pre-college art program designed for high school students. "My first choice was painting, my second was illustration, and my last choice was photography. When I found out I'd been assigned photography, I was pretty upset - I didn't even own a camera," Streitberger recalls. This unexpected assignment would prove to be a pivotal moment that would shape his entire artistic career.

Armed with nothing more than his father's old Vivitar 35mm SLR camera, Streitberger entered the darkroom for the first time, completely unaware of how significant that moment would become. "As soon as I walked into that class taught by Harrison Branch, I knew I was going to love it. We rolled our own film, learned how to develop it, and make prints in the darkroom. I was hooked," he explains. That initial spark ignited a deep curiosity that would fundamentally shape his artistic identity for years to come.

After spending years working as a graphic designer, Streitberger found himself at another critical crossroads when a layoff at Hewlett-Packard coincided with his wife's return to the workforce. While it was undoubtedly a difficult and uncertain time for his family, it also proved to be a pivotal turning point in his creative life. "I picked up the camera again and I haven't put it down since," he says. That return to photography marked not just a creative revival, but the beginning of a much deeper exploration of meaning and method in his artistic work.

For Streitberger, photography extends far beyond simply capturing what the human eye can see. Instead, he views it as a powerful tool for translating complex emotions and profound experiences through the sophisticated visual language of light, shadow, and texture. "I consider myself an artist who works in the medium of photography. I like my work to create dialogue and make people think. Sometimes I achieve this with subtle undertones of metaphor, but lately it's bold and in your face," he explains. His diverse projects vary widely in subject matter and approach, yet each one is consistently guided by his fundamental desire to connect compelling imagery to meaningful ideas.

His most ambitious and technically challenging project, "Oregon's Trail of Tears," perfectly exemplifies this artistic philosophy. The comprehensive series documents the exact route taken during the forced removal of Southern Oregon's Indigenous tribes in the 1850s, blending extensive historical research, demanding fieldwork, and sophisticated artistry to reveal how landscapes can bear witness to both trauma and survival. "My wife and daughter are registered tribal members. The Native American culture is a large part of our household as we are very involved with the tribe. I knew I wanted to blend Oregon history with my photography, not only history, but the impacts of Euro-American settlement and how it still resonates today," Streitberger explains.

The project's origins can be traced to Streitberger's painstaking research in historical archives. "While reading microfilm reels in the National Archives database, I discovered the journal kept by the Indian Agent in charge of the removal of Southern Oregon tribes. This journal was remarkably detailed and recorded daily, it compelled me to narrow my focus down to documenting this specific journey," he recalls. This discovery would become the foundation for years of meticulous research and artistic exploration.

Transforming his initial concept into a tangible visual narrative required years of intensive research, extraordinary patience, and considerable technical ingenuity. Streitberger's process for "Oregon's Trail of Tears" began not with a camera, but with extensive work in archives, studying historical maps, and carefully examining microfilm reels. "I spent a couple years using the Bureau of Land Management's digital archives and downloading original survey maps from the 1850s. I overlaid modern GIS maps over the antique survey maps in Photoshop and retraced the old road onto the modern map. This gave me the information I needed to then transfer that data into Google Maps. I did this for every mile of the Rogue River Trail of Tears," he explains.

From there, Streitberger could accurately measure the daily distances traveled and recorded in George H. Ambrose's journal, the Indian Agent who was in charge of the forced removal. These carefully calculated distances aligned perfectly with the detailed descriptions mentioned in Ambrose's daily journal entries, which allowed Streitberger to locate the precise camp locations with remarkable accuracy. Once his extensive research was completed, he could finally begin the challenging process of photographing these historically significant sites.

The technical demands of the project proved to be equally daunting and required innovative solutions. Streitberger works with a completely portable darkroom - literally an Eskimo pop-up ice fishing tent - where he develops his photographic plates on-site using authentic nineteenth-century chemistry and techniques. "I have to bring my whole darkroom and all my supplies with me. I prepare and develop the plates inside the tent, adjusting the chemistry as the temperature changes. My collodion is stored in a cooler, and all my dry supplies in a tote bag. These supplies are always packed up and ready to go," he explains.

Even the simple act of setting up his equipment often became an unexpected part of the overall experience. "When people see me set up a tent, they often get upset or curious," he admits. "Once they see the camera and some of my images, they normally calm down and find it interesting." Each photography session became a delicate balance of art, science, and diplomacy - an echo of the same types of challenges faced by early photographers who also worked under unpredictable and often difficult circumstances.

Although much of Streitberger's work focuses on capturing landscapes and places, it is fundamentally about people at its core. His unique approach to photographing landscapes is consistently guided by empathy and a profound sense of reverence for the human stories that are deeply embedded within them. "Most of my work revolves around people, human life and our emotions. Even with these landscapes, I approach these sites like I'm taking a portrait of them. It's about how humans and this land interact and affect each other," he explains.

This philosophical approach informs both his creative process and his technical decisions throughout his work. Whether he's using his modern Nikon D800 or his antique Eastman No. 33A large-format camera from 1935, Streitberger is guided less by convenience and more by the tactile connection between artist and image. "I started shooting large format, experimenting with ortho-litho films and paper negatives. Now, if I'm not shooting digital, I'm using antique brass barrel lenses from the 1800s. My shutter is my hand," he says. There's something deeply symbolic in that deliberate act - a human touch governing the precise moment when light meets film, as if each exposure becomes a meaningful handshake between the past and present.

The creation of "Oregon's Trail of Tears" was filled with numerous challenges and obstacles, but also moments of profound affirmation and validation. Among all the photographs in the comprehensive series, one particular image stands out to Streitberger as a crucial turning point: "Day 26: Mr. Smith's Farm." "When I was taking that photograph, I had my darkroom set up on the side of the highway and noticed a sign that read 'Historical Marker Ahead,'" he recalls. The historical plaque marked the Daniel Smith Donation Land Claim home site from 1852.

The journal entry for that specific day stated, "We drove today a distance of twelve miles. Camped on an oak grove near the claim of Mr. Smith." It was an extraordinary moment when years of painstaking research, patience, and careful attention to detail aligned with remarkable precision. Standing there with his camera, Streitberger realized that his reconstructed route, which had been mapped entirely from his home using historical documents, had led him to within fifty feet of the exact site described nearly two centuries earlier. "That moment brought validation to the whole project," he says.

For Streitberger, the project is far from complete, as each finished image serves as both closure and invitation, inspiring him to continue exploring Oregon's complex and often painful history through the medium of photography. "I want to continue this project. There were several instances of forced removal here in Oregon. There was another trail of tears along the coast line, and of course Chief Joseph's Flight of the Nez Perce. But all of that takes a lot of time and money. As an artist, I have the time, but the money is the hardest part," he explains. "Oregon's Trail of Tears" was funded through grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, The Oregon Arts Commission, and The Kinsman Foundation.

Looking toward the future, Streitberger hopes to publish a comprehensive photo book of "Oregon's Trail of Tears" and to further explore historical and alternative photographic processes that deepen his engagement with the medium's rich roots and traditions. "I like learning old techniques and figuring out how to make them my own," Streitberger says. At its heart, Nolan Streitberger's work is fundamentally about reflection - the crucial pause between recognition and understanding. His artistic practice serves as a powerful reminder that photography is not only about documenting what is immediately visible, but about revealing what truly endures across time. "When I open up a photograph and it stops me in my tracks," he says, "I know I did it right."