By any measure, photographer Nolan Streitberger has built a practice that bridges art, history, and the profoundly personal. His work, particularly his acclaimed project Oregon’s Trail of Tears, transforms beautiful photography into both historical document and dialogue, a means of reclaiming memory and giving voice to stories long overlooked. But Streitberger’s photographic journey began almost by accident.
“I first learned photography in my junior year in high school. I was accepted into Oregon State University’s JumpstART program, a pre-college art program 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.
Unpredictable Creative Discovery
It’s a story that speaks to the unpredictable nature of creative discovery. What began as a reluctant class assignment soon became a lifelong pursuit. Armed with his father’s old Vivitar 35mm SLR, Streitberger entered the darkroom for the first time, unaware of the significance that moment would hold.
“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 says.
That spark ignited a curiosity that would shape his artistic identity. Years later, after working as a graphic designer, Streitberger found himself at another crossroads when a layoff at Hewlett-Packard coincided with his wife’s return to the workforce. It was a difficult time, but also a pivotal one.
“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 deeper exploration of meaning and method in his work.
Day 0 — Fort Lane 
Day 1, 2, 3 — Gold Hill 
Day 4 — Foots Creek 1 An Artist Working in the Medium of Photography
For Streitberger, photography is not merely about capturing what the eye sees; instead, it’s about translating emotion and experience through the visual language of light, shadow, and texture. His projects vary widely, yet each is guided by a desire to connect image to idea.
“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 most ambitious project, Oregon’s Trail of Tears, exemplifies that philosophy. Created using the historic wet plate collodion process, the series documents the route taken during the forced removal of Southern Oregon’s Indigenous tribes in the 1850s. The project blends research, fieldwork, and artistry to reveal how landscapes can bear witness to 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.
“While reading microfilm reals 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.”
Day 7 & 8 — Jumpoff Joe Creek 
Day 9 — Smith Hill 
Day 14 — Near the Weaver’s Reconstructing a Forgotten Path
Transforming that idea into a tangible visual narrative required years of research, patience, and technical ingenuity. Streitberger’s process for Oregon’s Trail of Tears began not with a camera, but with archives, maps, and 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 says.
“From there I could easily measure the daily distances traveled and recorded in George H. Ambrose’s Journal, the Indian Agent in charge of the forced removal. These distances aligned perfectly with the descriptions mentioned in his journal entries which allowed me to locate the camp locations. Once my research was completed, I could start photographing these sites.”
That research laid the groundwork for a photographic journey that was as much about discovery as creation. Each photograph required meticulous preparation, often in remote or inhospitable locations, guided by GPS coordinates drawn from his reconstructed route.
The technical demands were equally daunting. Streitberger works with a portable darkroom, literally an Eskimo pop-up ice fishing tent, where he develops his plates on-site using nineteenth-century chemistry.
“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 says.
Even the act of setting up often became part of the 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 session became a balance of art, science, and diplomacy, an echo of the challenges faced by early photographers who also worked under unpredictable circumstances.
Day 15 — Round Prairie 3 
Day 18 — Camas Swall Creek 
Day 21 — The Applegates (Good) Seeing Landscapes as Portraits
Although much of Streitberger’s work focuses on places, it is, at its core, about people. His approach to photographing landscapes is guided by empathy and a sense of reverence for the human stories 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 says.
This philosophy informs both his creative process and his technical decisions. Whether using his 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 act, a human touch governing the moment when light meets film, as if each exposure becomes a handshake between the past and present.
Day 25 — Near Rich Creek 
Day 9 — Smith Hill A Moment of Validation
The creation of Oregon’s Trail of Tears was filled with challenges, but also moments of profound affirmation. Among all the photographs in the series, one stands out to Streitberger as a 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 plaque marked the Daniel Smith Donation Land Claim home site from 1852. The journal entry for that day stated, ‘We drove today a distance of twelve miles. Camped on an oak grove near the claim of Mr. Smith.’”
It was a moment when years of research, patience, and care aligned with extraordinary precision. Standing there with his camera, Streitberger realized that his reconstructed route, mapped entirely from home, had led him within fifty feet of the exact site described nearly two centuries earlier.
“That moment brought validation to the whole project,” he says.
Day 26 — Mr Smiths Farm Marker 
Day 26 — Mr Smiths Farm Oaks Looking Ahead
For Streitberger, the project is far from over, each completed image serves as both closure and invitation, inspiring him to continue exploring Oregon’s complex and often painful history through 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. Oregon’s Trail of Tears was funded by grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, The Oregon Arts Commission, and The Kinsman Foundation,” he says.
For now, he hopes to publish a 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 roots.
“I like learning old techniques and figuring out how to make them my own,” Streitberger says.
At its heart, Nolan Streitberger’s work is about reflection, the pause between recognition and understanding. His practice reminds viewers that photography is not only about documenting what is visible, but about revealing what endures.
“When I open up a photograph and it stops me in my tracks,” he says, “I know I did it right.”
Image credits: Photographs by Nolan Streitberger