About this Book

Hess, an award-winning photographer and writer, reveals the harsh Arctic landscape and the richly complex way of life it has wrought for the Inupiat Eskimos of Alaska. Having earned the trust of the community, he was invited to document, over a number of years, their annual bowhead hunt. Rather than romanticizing the Inupiat or the hunt itself, he shows their history and traditions juxtaposed against contemporary life. Through his numerous stark and beautiful duotone photographs, the reader can recognize the importance of this whaling tradition to a people who continue to survive and who find joy in that survival, against great odds.