Capturing Glaciers
A History of Repeat Photography and Global Warming
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Explores the photography of climate change
Photographs do not simply speak for themselves. Their meanings are built through interpretive frameworks that shift over time. Today, photographs of receding glaciers are one of the most well recognized visualizations of human-caused climate change. These images, captured through repeat photography, have become effective with an unambiguous message: global warming is happening, and it is happening now. But this wasn't always the case. The meaning and evidentiary value of repeat glacier photography has varied over time, reflecting not only evolving scientific norms but also social, cultural, and political influences.
In Capturing Glaciers, Dani Inkpen historicizes the use of repeat glacier photographs, examining what they show, what they obscure, and how they influence public understanding of nature and climate change. Though convincing as a form of evidence, these images offer a limited and sometimes misleading representation of glaciers themselves. Furthermore, their use threatens to replicate problematic ideas baked into their history. With clear and compelling writing, Capturing Glaciers ultimately calls for a centering of climate justice and warns of the consequences of reducing the problem of global warming to one of distant wilderness.
About this Author
Dani Inkpen is assistant professor of history at Mount Allison University.
Reviews
"Repeat scientific photographs of glaciers, which juxtapose images of glaciers taken years apart from one another, may look like (and in fact are) a niche subject if ever there was one, but Capturing Glaciers does an admirable job of demonstrating the broad significance of the topic. . . . One of the book's strengths derives from the very capaciousness of the way in which it uses "icon," applying it to investigative, nationalist, documentary, and pedagogical regimes, thereby sensitizing readers to different modes of iconic practice."
"Extremely well-researched and provides some fascinating insights into the development of modern glaciology in North America. . . . [Inkpen's] commendable love and fascination for these ethereal rivers of ice pervades her writing and interest in the topic."
"[A] beautifully, almost lyrically written study that blends science, perception, the human condition, the vagaries of ice, and much, much more. After reading this fascinating story, you will not look at and see glaciers the same way twice."
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