Popular coffee-table book inspires Arviat man
Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services
Arviat (Jun 06/01) - Paul Iblauk understands Richard Harrington's fascination with Padlei.
The Arviat gold prospector covets his summer flights over the abandoned trading post 145 kilometres west of Arviat. Unlike the 90-year-old retired photographer, Iblauk has never stepped foot on the historic site. He's hoping this summer will be different.
Iblauk has his fingers crossed that upcoming work with a gold exploration company takes him to Padlei. He said he is inexplicably drawn to the area. Not only is the site a stark contrast to the surrounding flat, dull landscape, Padlei is part of Iblauk's family history.
"My father-in-law, David Hannah, was there as a child," Iblauk said. "There are still people around who remember being there.
There is where Harrington lived with Inuit families some 50 years ago. His book, Padlei Diaries, was released earlier this year. It offers a stark look at the starvation, death and courage of the day.
Contrary to the whipping winds and snow-capped landscape, though, Padlei in the summer resembles a hidden Shangri-La.
When describing the unusually lush, green area, the 43-year-old Iblauk pauses for each word. Given the chance, he'd lie in the green fields, breathe deeply of the willow trees and splash in the nearby river.
Harrington showed the world Padlei through his black-and-white photographs and diary excerpts. Iblauk has shown his community, many living and around Padlei at one time, the site with a colour photos shot on his pocket camera from the air.
"They recognize it but they say it looks different. There's more trees, maybe because of global warming," he said.
Even though Iblauk has never seen Padlei Diaries, he did read a review and felt compelled to show the world his own softly focused aerial shots. In fact, he admits his photography needs work. Even so, he's delighted to show people a remote Kivalliq area steeped in history.
"They waited 50 years to publish Harrington's photos. Why wait another 50 years?" he asked.
