 |
  |
|
|
 |
 Keri Pashuk travels the Arctic and Antarctic on the yacht Northanger. Through her photo- graphs she wants to share with others the wonders of one of the world’s few unspoilt environments in which she is fortunate to spend her life. |
 |
The Artist
Canadian born, in 1964, Keri Pashuk and her husband now travel the Arctic and Antarctic on the good ship Northanger. As a child, she had the good fortune to live in various communities in northern and central Ontario, where the main focus of her free time was outdoor activities. She camped, fished, canoed and picked berries in some of the most wild places on earth; crystal lakes filled with trout, berry laden bushes with leaves brilliant in autumn colours, moose and bear sauntering past, orchestras of birds in the forest. Those moments of natural beauty instilled in her an appreciation and desire to seek regions of the world that are relatively untouched by the human hand, where nature overpowers human efforts and makes one feel very small and insignificant. She began taking photographs as a teenager but it was during her second voyage to Antarctica, in 1995, that she was moved to attempt to capture some of the astonishing wonders that she is so fortunate to experience as part of her everyday life. |
The Pictures
During her travels, mainly in very isolated and wild areas like the Arctic and Antarctic, she met so much untouched beauty, both in the natural history and in the forms the environment creates. Icebergs glow and glitter, moss and algae - incongruent to the whiteness and blueness of ice and water - warm the landscapes. Low circling sun creates a lighting that is particular to the high latitudes. Reflections mirror a scene already spectacular on its own. Writing on board the Northanger at anchor in the bay of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, Keri describes how the wind has just begun to howl over the mountains and the boat is being heeled over violenty in the gusts. When she looks outside, she sees the distinctive lenticular clouds which indicate strong winds. The bay is dark blue, speckled with whitecaps, and terns, Antarctic petrels and blackbrowed albatross are soaring the lift. She is left with the feeling that her lifestyle is in itself a sort of performance art and through her pictures she wants to share with others the wonders of one of the world’s last unspoilt environments. |