"Esquimaux in his kayak ready for seal hunting"
George P. Critcherson
American, 1823–1892
John L. Dunmore
American, 1833–1897
William Bradford
American, 1823–1892
1869
An albumen silver photograph from a glass negative showing an Inuit hunter in a skin kayak poised for seal hunting, made to document Arctic life during mid‑19th‑century exploration.
What strikes you is the tiny, crisply detailed image set into a wide page—an isolated figure crouched in a narrow kayak, spear ready, against a low, rocky Arctic shore and a flat, luminous sea.
As an 1869 albumen print, it exemplifies 19th‑century documentary photography that recorded and circulated images of Arctic exploration and Indigenous lifeways, shaping both scientific records and metropolitan perceptions of the North.
Medium
Albumen silver print from a glass negative
Dimensions
3 5/16 × 4 9/16" (8.4 × 11.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Transferred from The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
Accession
466.1981.23
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
