In the book, the images repetitively display a gesture of whales surfacing from water, mostly spyhopping, a behavior motivated by curiosity and intention for interaction. In fact, taken during the explorer Richard Byrd's first and second Antarctica expeditions, the original photographs of breaching whales themselves record the moments of encountering between the whales and the human being. Before the white-out process, the original text was compiled from the index of the Collection Boxes at The Ohio State University Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program Register of the Papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd. The text describes both the content and the material qualities of the archival footage related to Byrd’s Antarctic expeditions. Men looking into long fissures in the ground, crew digging snow under a plane, scratches and dirt on emulsion, punched-out numbers on tape, these details could exist continuously in one paragraph. The text provides a sense of context for the contemplation of the whales. |
|
