Author(s): Fred Bruemmer

PHOTOGRAPHY

Our impression of the Arctic as we typically envision it is replete with snow, igloos, and a thriving native community that hunts seals and ventures across an ice-capped tundra using dog-sleds. In the 1960s Fred Breummer moved to the Arctic to capture this life in photographs, and present to the world the intimate moments he spent with the native peoples living, hunting, and surviving in a very inhospitable environment. By focusing his lens on the people, animals, and landscape, he helped define the North as we know it today, as well as how the region's inhabitants began moving away from their traditional way of life. Today, every aspect of the Arctic has changed: dog sleds have been replaced by snowmobiles, harpoons by rifles, and igloos by houses. And the Arctic's environmental health is of international concern as the region has been ravaged by the effects of global warming. In particular, there are concerns that Arctic shrinkage, a consequence of melting glaciers and other ice, could soon contribute to a substantial rise in sea levels worldwide. Arctic Visions captures a past that has become almost mythological and is a document of a past that will soon be impossible to imagine on our own. Praise for Fred Bruemmer : "More than any other photographer of the Arctic, Bruemmer has captured through his photos the transition from hunter to villager as Arctic people began moving off the land and settling permanently in villages and towns. In this way, his art serves as a mirror of the harsh transitions and changes in 20th century life." - Willam W. Fitzhugh, Director, Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.