1946: Pork, Hattle and grandson Ikkat, a photograph by George Hunter. The famed photographer documented the lives of the Inuit in Northwest Territories in 1946. The photos are at Kipling Gallery now. (Courtesy George Hunter)
George Hunter nearly died for a photograph.
While documenting the lives of the Inuit at Baker Lake, N.W.T in 1946, the mission dwelling Hunter was sleeping in one night filled with carbon monoxide. Hunter was found unconscious by the minister’s helper, Tapiti.
After being dragged in his sleeping bag outside into the snow and the -40C March air, Hunter came to.
“I had a headache for a week,” recalled the now 88-year-old photographer. That far up north, he added, there was no medical help.
“Looking back on it, I think (the trip) was the highlight of my lifetime of travel.”
The photo series that took him to the Canadian Arctic to document the quickly-fading lifestyle of the Inuit will be on display in the Kipling Gallery’s exhibit Abraham Anghik Ruben introducing George Hunter, running through Dec. 5.
The series, entitled Canadian Inuit, 1946, features nine large prints and 26 smaller photographs of the Inuit people. The images were shot over the two trips to the Arctic sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada, where Hunter worked as a photographer for five years.
Hunter’s photos are accompanying the works of Inuit sculptor Abraham Anghik Ruben, who, using mainly sandstone, whalebone and bronze, carves the traditional stories that he grew up hearing.
The pieces by Ruben, who was born where the Mackenzie River meets the Arctic Ocean, tell the stories of the Inuit’s encounter with the Vikings, people migrating over the Bering Strait and their encounters with native Canadians.
“Having these two artists together gives a great picture and story of the native culture,” said Rocco Pannese, co-owner of the Kipling Gallery. “It’s an incredible documentation of history.
“(The Inuit) don’t live that way anymore.”
Pannese said exhibits like these — which combine the traditional stories through art and documented photographs — help to preserve the oral tradition-based Inuit culture, which is quickly becoming mainstream.
“It’s one thing to tell stories and have three dimensional images and sculptures talking about legends and myths, but to see the physical landscape puts the work into context,” said Ruben.
Ruben’s sculptural work has been displayed in museums around the world. A show of his sculptures at the Smithsonian in Washington is in the works.
Ruben said that one of the sculptures that will be featured at the Kipling Gallery will be a large, 800-year-old whale rib, which he has carved.
Hunter has been featured in Time magazine, holding the magazine’s largest spread ever of 12 pages. From 1972 through 1988, his work could be found in the wallets of most Canadians, as both the $5 and $10 bills featured images based on his photographs. Hunter and Ruben were set to meet for the first time at the Kipling Gallery’s official launch for the exhibit Nov. 19.
