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Inventing Modernism – William Dobson Valentine – Midnight Sun Off North Cape -American Museum of Photography

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North Cape is one of the northernmost points in Europe, located on the island of Magerøya in northern Norway.

William Dobson Valentine (Scotland, 1844 – 1907): Midnight Sun Off North Cape

Albumen print, 5. 8 x 8.5 inches/14.5 x 21.5 cm, 1890

Norway’s North Cape is so close to the Arctic Circle that between May 14 and July 30 each year, the sun is still visible at midnight. Among the 1,000 photographs of Norway made by William Dobson Valentine (son of the Scottish photographer and publisher James Valentine) a number depict the Midnight Sun. This image is perhaps the most eloquent of the series: there are no boats or docks cluttering the scene, and each ripple in the ocean reflects a dazzling bit of sunlight — looking for all the world like a series of exuberant brush-strokes.

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