Untitled ("Scene from Baffin Island with icebergs in the distance") 1869

Curator: Look at this photograph—"Scene from Baffin Island with icebergs in the distance," captured by John L. Dunmore. The scale is intimate, almost like a quiet observation. Editor: It feels so desolate. Just those massive forms of ice against the water. There's a certain stillness that is also unsettling, like a dream of the arctic. Curator: Yes, the materiality speaks volumes. The photographic process itself—likely albumen print—would have involved meticulous labor, reflecting the pre-industrial relationship between art and craft. Dunmore’s choice to document this remote environment also positions the photograph within the historical context of exploration and documentation. Editor: I'm thinking of how fragile those bergs are, how easily they could melt or crumble. A beautiful elegy of sorts for a disappearing landscape. Curator: Exactly. And the print itself, an object destined to fade over time, echoes that sense of ephemerality. Editor: Gives you pause, doesn't it? Makes you think about what’s worth saving, photographically or otherwise.