Photo exhibit brings Arctic starvation to life

When I think of climate change, often my first thought is for low-lying oceanic island nations, like Palau, which might be completely swamped by rising sea levels. But lately things like polar bears have cropped up in my local news (they are apparently cannibalizing their young, because the artic ice floes they rely on are too thin to hunt).

I’ve read before that the Arctic might be one of the forefronts of climate change, so it makes the 60-year-old photo, above, newly relevant.

Taken by Canadian photographer Richard Harrington, it depicts a  Padleimuit mother feeding her child a piece of caribou skin at starvation camp in 1950. (For the interested, it’s a gelatin silver print that’s 16 x 20 inches.)

During his trips to the Arctic, Harrington found that a shift in caribou migration routes had left some remote villages starving. He helped raise awareness of the issue. Unfortunately, these are the types of issues that I fear we’ll soon be confronting once again.

There is an exhibit of these photos, by the way, currently on at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. If you’re in the neighbourhood, stop by.

(Believe it or not, I was put on to this through this story in the online edition of the Brandon Sun. I know, right?)