Seal Hunt, Arctic Alaska

It's a bit grizzly, but it's also a great record of a disappearing way of life.  Nice photo, but everyone should take the time to check out Nanook of the North,  a silent documentary directed by Robert Flaherty.

So, back to the postcard, literally, on the back, "ART.2-ARCTIC ALASKA  Eskimo returning from a successful seal hunt on the Polar ice. PHOTO BY WILLIAM W. BACON."  Published by "ALASKA SCENIC POST CARDS J&H SALES, ANCHORAGE, ALASKA."  I couldn't find anything about the publisher, but I was able to dig up a bit of information on the photographer.

William W. Bacon III, donated his photographic archives to the University of Alaska, Anchorage.  The collection covers his complete photographic and film work from 1945-2004.  According to the brief bio on the University's website, he was born in 1926.  Since he was described as both a photographer and a documentary film maker, I also checked on IMDB where he was listed as having been born in 1927.  Neither site listed a date of death, so presumably, he's still alive and kicking.  Well, perhaops not kicking, but at least, in a well deserved retirement.

This card was never used.

Post Number 1,000

I started The New Found Photography as a way to impose some sort of order on a mess of a collection.  While I've added text from the very first post, I expected few visitors, no comments, no followers, and I sure as hell never expected to hit the 1,000 post milestone.  The fifteen photographs that I've chosen to re-post, to mark the occasion, are far from representative.  Are they my favorites?  They are right now, but if I made a choice tomorrow, there would be changes.  They're not the most popular.  A couple of them have had a lot of views, and some, almost none.  Is there a post number 2,000 in the future?  I've still got a lot of photos in the collection that have never seen the light of day.  And, despite my ever shrinking income, I still visit antique stores, thrift shops, EBay, garage sales, estate sales, and flea markets.  Who knows where it will all end.

In the Arctic

This is one of my favorite small collections of photographs. Written on the back of the photo of the man in the kayak, "2185-1927-L.D.L." Native Ak-ah-Malak at Pond Inlet. Baffin Island." On the back of the image of the boat being towed by the dog team with the land in the background, "6685-1931-J.S.S. J.S. Soper and family-Assistant Moosa and family-leaving for zoological trip en route down Westbourne Bay to outer coast-June 6th, 1931. Lake Harbour, Baffin Island." The closer shot of a boat on a sled with the dog team to the side, "6028-1931-R.S.F. It's comforting to travel with a boat on the sled when the ice is beginning to disintegrate. Coronation Gulf, 30th May, 1930." Of the two images of the kayaks, the one where the boats are spaced out, "6966-1934-D.L.M. Finish kyak race. Port Burnell, July 1934." Where the kayaks are all in a row, "6965-1934-D.L.M. Start kyak race. Port Burnell. July, 1934." I'm guessing that these photos are from some sort of Canadian government survey. Maybe from a university. The misspelling of kayak is as written on the back of the photos.