Arctic Madonna by Margaret Bourke-White in the Canadian Arctic, in the late 1930s (Courtesy US Camera Annual & LIFE Magazine)
Toronto. Many of us have seen and enjoyed the photography of the late George Hunter, including his iconic portraits of the Inuit people.
Surprisingly, an American photographer visited the far north to photograph its people for LIFE magazine back in the late 1930s. The photographer was none other than Margaret Bourke-White and two of her photos appeared in a photo magazine – “U.S. Camera Annual 1939, Edited by Thomas J. Maloney, NY: William Morrow, 1938. ‘Arctic Madonna’ by Margaret Bourke-White, p. 13”.
The article lead continues, “One of two photographs by Bourke-White in U.S. Camera Annual 1939, ‘Arctic Madonna’ was taken in August 1937 on assignment for Life magazine, which published two photo essays taken in the Far North by the photographer in its October 25 issue.
“Bourke-White made this portrait in Coppermine, Northwest Territory, at 10pm, in the ‘land of the midnight sun.’ The Inuit woman had come several hundred miles in an open boat to greet the Bishop of the Arctic, with whom Bourke-White was traveling by air. At one point, due to bad weather, the party was forced down in the Arctic Ocean two hundred miles from the magnetic North Pole and spent time on a small island far from any human habitation.
“During this trip, Bourke-White was besieged with telegrams from love-struck Erskine Caldwell, addressed to ‘Honeychile’ from ‘Skinny,’ asking her to return and marry him. One was even read on the radio when she was marooned in the Arctic.”
My thanks goes to good friend and fellow photo historian, George Dunbar, for finding and sharing this bit of history. George writes, “An exceptionally interesting and detailed bio of Margaret Bourke-White’s career will be found here, on Gary Saretzyk’s web site.”
