This book review starts with a question: what do readers associate with the terms ‘Canada’ and ‘seal hunt’? I would assume that two different sets of images now appear before the inner eye: the blood-lusty commercial seal hunt on the one hand, and the solemn Inuit seal hunt on the other. If this is the case, it would not be surprising as indeed the seal hunt has been subject to successful and highly effective image campaigns that have shaped the public's view on the matter.
It does equally not come as a surprise that life is slightly more complex than simple imagery and narratives and also the seal hunt cannot be depicted in a black and white manner. Which, of course, in the context of this book is a slightly ironic statement since this collection of images from different locations of the Canadian seal hunt by Québecois photographer Yoanis Menge is held completely in black and white, from Nunavut, Newfoundland, Nunavik and the Magdalen Islands.
And the images Menge has created and eternalised in this book do not correspond to the seal hunt as depicted in the global discourse. Instead, Menge focuses on the people conducting it, on the circumstances under which the hunt takes place and the socio-environmental conditions that, at least so it seems, necessitate the hunt for seals. The outcome is a book which does not need any explanatory texts for the pictures – they speak for themselves. Merely the very last pages of the book briefly in French present some basic facts of the seal hunt as well as Menge's approach towards photography, his home in the Magdalen Islands and, naturally, the seal hunt.
It is almost impossible to single out a particular picture and since I have been having this book in my possession, I have been looking in it almost every day, just to find new details which had been gone unnoticed before. This may also stem from the fact that during my own fieldwork in the Canadian seal hunt I had the pleasure to spend some time with Menge and to see him conduct his work. His approach is respectful towards the people and the customs of the locality which he captures in his photographs. His friendly personality make his subjects gladly be taken pictures of and appear, although some photographs are ‘arranged’, to be fully in their natural elements.
And this is probably the greatest strength of this impressive work: Menge has not only documented the different facets of all aspects of Canadian seal hunting, but he has created a powerful insight into the realities of these hunts. None of the photographs appears to be staged and no agenda – be it positive or negative towards seal hunting – is conveyed. Instead, Menge shows the harsh realities of seal hunting in all their varieties, making this book an extremely important contribution to the hunt's better understanding beyond the narratives of cruelty or lack of necessity.
I can therefore highly recommend this work! Not only in order to better understand the seal hunt, but simply because Menge's talent as a photographer of vivid, moving, and somewhat emotional images rises to the surface in Hakapik. To gain insight into this young man's work, which also contains contributions to Hakapik, a visit to Menge's website is recommendable: http://yoanis.squarespace.com.
With this I leave the reader of this short review and indulge once again in Menge's captivating photographs.
