Slow White Buffalo stands in full length against a painted studio backdrop, captured in a cabinet card by D. F. Barry of Bismarck, Dakota Territory, almost certainly during the 1880s when Barry was actively photographing Lakota and other Plains leaders at his studio. The subject's direct, composed gaze and deliberate stance convey considerable presence, and the printed identification below the image, "Slow White Buffalo", confirms the identity with the authority of the original mount.

He wears a light trade cloth shirt beneath a large dark blanket or robe draped across the lower body, with soft hide moccasin boots visible at the feet and two upright feathers set into his long, loose hair. His right hand extends outward, holding what appears to be a small animal skin or fur bundle, and a fur-wrapped braid ornament hangs at his chest. The studio props include a rustic branch chair to the left and a painted rocky outcrop to the right, both characteristic of Barry's standard setups.

David Frances Barry (1854–1934) is among the most significant photographers of the Northern Plains Indian nations, best known for his portraits of Sitting Bull, Rain-in-the-Face, and other Hunkpapa and Lakota leaders made at Standing Rock Agency and his Bismarck studio. His cabinet cards of named Native subjects are primary historical documents widely held in museum and archival collections. The mount reverse bears the printed imprint: "D. F. Barry, Photographer, Bismarck, D. T."

From the collection of James Lee Soffer