Untitled ("The midnight sun in Melville Bay in August") 1869

Curator: This is an untitled photograph, but it’s also known as "The midnight sun in Melville Bay in August," attributed to John L. Dunmore, part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: It has a sepia wash that gives it an otherworldly feel—like stepping into a dream of ice. There's a starkness that gets under my skin. Curator: Right. Look at how the sun's reflection anchors the composition. Melville Bay, a crucial location for whaling, dictated labor practices and seasonal movements. Editor: Knowing that shifts my perspective. It’s not just a pretty landscape; it's tied to specific economies, human endeavor and, probably, suffering. Curator: Precisely. Photography here becomes a record of geographical exploration interwoven with social and economic forces. Editor: I see the landscape anew, a site both sublime and deeply implicated. Curator: Yes, it makes us question the seemingly objective gaze of photography. Editor: It's less a window and more a mirror, reflecting back our own loaded history.