Imaging the Arctic

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is also the
author of The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek, and
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Hom

This handsome volume, rich in images yet boasting a substantial text, is
the first general account of the photographic record of the indigenous
peoples of the North American Arctic. The 31 contributors include Native
and non-Native photographers and scholars who attended the “Imaging
the Arctic” conference held at the British Museum, where both editors
work. The book explores the power and meaning of photographs through
discussions of history, technology, gender, links to film and the arts,
and the contrasting approaches of Native and non-Native photographers.

Scholars and general readers alike will appreciate the numerous
photographs depicting indigenous culture. The book introduces many
unknown photographers while at the same time featuring the work of
famous photographers such as Peter Pitseolak, the Canadian Arctic’s
first Native documentary photographer; explorer Roald Amundsen; and
Archibald Lang Fleming, the first Anglican Bishop of the Arctic. As the
editors observe, these photos “retain the power to mystify, delight,
intrigue and compel.”