​ Father and son on a kayak trip off the Greenlandic coast

I saw this come across my feed and my first thought was, “Wow, I haven’t seen anything like that before.”

It struck me on several levels.

1. The novelty of the subject. I don’t remember any depictions like it of that quality.

2. The date. This was well before much attention was paid to the region or its people.

3. Given the date it was possible it was true to life and painted from first hand experience.

4. The setting with icebergs on the left and land on the right. The summer light behind them is spectacular.

5. The water. You can feel the cold in it. If you fall into that without protection you are dead in 5 minutes. Having spent lots of time at sea in winter that was never far from your mind.

6. The courage to be out there in such a hostile environment, especially with a child.

7. The sophistication of their ‘primitive’ technology. There is no room for the slightest error and yet they are out there in the most vulnerable looking low riding boats imaginable. This is an incredible feat that is casual to them.

8. The boy’s boat is tailored to his size. I wonder if that is true to life or drama for a better sale.

The image quality is low and I didn’t find a better version of it but the wow value is still  there.