Jonathan Harris explores human storytelling through creative digital interfaces. For his most recent project, he spent nine days accompanying the Inupiat Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska, on their thousand-year-old traditional whale hunt.
The entire experience is documented in a sequence of 3,214 photographs, beginning with his taxi ride to the airport and ending with the butchering of the second whale, a week later.
According to the project statement, “The photographs were taken at five-minute intervals, even while sleeping (using a chronometer), establishing a constant “photographic heartbeat”. In moments of high adrenaline, this photographic heartbeat would quicken (to a maximum rate of 37 pictures in five minutes while the first whale was being cut up), mimicking the changing pace of my own heartbeat.”
The result: a sad, yet beautiful series of images portraying the primitive and highly controversial ritual.
Other works by Jonathan include We Feel Fine, Lovelines, Universe, 10×10 and Phylotaxis.
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the entire project - interface included - is pretty impressive. I’d lean toward the beautiful rather than saddening in my description of the images.
Thanks for this post.