Untitled ("Steamer fast between floe ice and field ice, Melville Bay") c. 1869

Editor: This photograph, titled "Steamer fast between floe ice and field ice, Melville Bay" by John L. Dunmore, pictures a ship sailing through an icy landscape. The sepia tone gives it such a stark, desolate feel. What strikes you about this image? Curator: The image speaks volumes about the intersection of exploration, industry, and environmental impact. How do we reconcile the romanticism of arctic exploration with its disruption of indigenous communities and fragile ecosystems? Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. Curator: Consider the power dynamics at play. Who gets to navigate, to extract, to document? Whose stories are prioritized, and whose are erased in this seemingly simple photograph of a ship in the ice? Editor: It really reframes how I see the photograph. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. Art is a lens through which we can examine the complex layers of our shared history.