Renowned Arctic photographer showcased at McMichael Art Gallery
'Mother and Child' shows two rubbing noses in Inuit photo

YorkRegion.com
May 11, 2014
By Jeremy Grimaldi

For Margaret Harrington, witnessing her late husband’s seminal works of far north photography in a gallery with the exposure of the McMichael Art Gallery was a special treat.

“It’s wonderful. I wish he had more exposure like this, so the public could see his work,” she said, after touring the Arctic Exposure photography exhibition that runs at the Kleinburg gallery until June 1.

Richard Harrington, who made five trips north to mingle with and photograph Inuit folk, is considered by some to be Canada’s foremost Arctic photographer and is heavily featured in the exhibition, which focuses on identity and the landscape of the far north.

Visitors are able to take in a number of portraits, including perhaps his most well-known piece, called “mother and child”, which shows a mother embracing and rubbing noses with her infant.

About this photograph, Ms Harrington said she believes it is the love on display in the picture with which many can associate.

“Despite the poverty, the love a mother has for their child is always there,” she said.

The exhibition is made up from 130 years worth of photographs, ranging in age from as far back as 1881 right up to modern day.

The photographs were taken by seven photographers from a number of backgrounds, from geographers to engineers and employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Others were shot by unknowns.

As part of the exhibition, visitors are also able to see some of the unique items traders managed to bring back from the Arctic.

Maureen Coleman, the daughter of a Hudson Bay trader, who made a number of trips to Arctic locales, including Chesterfield Inlet, said after she inherited a narwhal tusk from her father, something she used as a coat rack for a number of years.

“I used to hang my university hood on it,” she said.

Now the seven-foot tusk is sitting in the exhibition.

“It’s a wonderful feeling because it is in perfect condition,” she added.

Arctic Exposure is one of some 200 events that are taking place across the GTA as part of the Contact Photography Festival, the largest photography festival in the world.

The 18th annual event is appearing in Vaughan for the first time this year, but has public exhibitions all over Toronto, including a large installation at Pearson Airport’s Terminal 1.

As part of that display, visitors can experience 30 photos of Africans in their home environment by a Canadian and an Italian photographer.

Mr. Harrington is one of the few photographers in the nation ever to be bestowed the country’s highest honour of the Order of Canada.