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Hans-Ludwig Blohm, C.M. (born November 12, 1927 in Rendsburg, Germany) is a photographer and author. Over three decades, he has criss-crossed the Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska, capturing images and stories of the Inuit. He has driven 16 times from his home in Ottawa to different parts of the North logging from 20 500 to 25 000 km each trip. He has driven the Mackenzie Ice Road to Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea at three occasions and has explored by sailboat the remote, uninhabited fjords of Labrador.〔 Blohm's landscapes and portraits have appeared in many books and magazines, while twenty-three of his photographs have appeared on Canadian postage stamps. His solo photo exhibitions have travelled on four continents while his 17 books, ranging from coffee-table pictorials to a collection of essays from Northerners, have sold worldwide.〔 Blohm has also left his mark in the world of architecture, portrait and microchip photography. ==The early years== From 1943 to 1944, Blohm served with the German Navy as an anti-aircraft gunner (marinehelfer) in Kiel, Germany’s major naval base on the Baltic Sea. In 1945, he was assigned to the special guard unit for Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, wartime Germany's last head of state.〔 After being discharged, Blohm helped to rebuild Germany. He became a Master Carpenter in 1955.〔 His father, an accomplished amateur photographer, sparked his passion for photography early in childhood. In 1949, Blohm purchased his first camera, a Diax with a 50mm lens. Camera in hand, he travelled Europe recording his experiences on film. His most memorable adventure came in 1952 when he and a friend hitchhiked across Lapland for three months. There, he was "bitten by the Arctic bug".〔 In 1956, Blohm came to Canada hoping to bring back to Germany a childhood friend, Ingeborg Ramm, who had emigrated to Canada a year earlier. After travelling across Canada, the couple realized they wanted to stay. Blohm and Ingeborg were married on November 2, 1956.〔 They settled in Ottawa to raise their three children: Norman, Heike and Sigrid.〔〔 From 1956 to 1958, Blohm worked as a carpenter.〔 Then he secured a job as a school photographer for all the rural schools in the Western Quebec School Board and in Eastern Ontario. For two years, with his Volkswagen Beetle, he travelled the back roads from Montreal to Port Hope visiting the one-room schools.〔 From 1958 to 1963, Blohm became a darkroom technician and manager.〔 But when he dared ask for a raise he was instantly fired. With his portfolio in hand, he went around Ottawa knocking on doors. He was close to getting discouraged when the National Film Board of Canada (Stills Division) offered him $600 for a selection of his transparencies for featured publication in ''Year of the Land'' and ''Call them Canadians'', two pictorial books about Canada.〔 Later in 1963, Blohm found a job at Photo Features Ltd doing contract work for the ''Ottawa Citizen'' and operating the very first wire service in Canada (which had been set up for one of their clients, the ''Toronto Star'').〔 By 1966, he had become a partner in the business, owning 50% of the shares.〔 From 1964 to 1966, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation hired Blohm as a freelance cameraman.〔 He participated in numerous National Film Board books, publications and audiovisual programs.〔 In 1966, Blohm decided to become a freelance photographer. For Expo 67 in Montreal, he was involved in the advanced planning of photo exhibits.〔 In 1969, he formed Foto Blohm which became Foto Blohm Associates Ltd. in 1971. In the years that followed his skills and reputation as a photographer grew. Blohm's recognition earned him numerous major photo assignments from architects, high technology sector, government departments, galleries, etc.〔 Blohm's first exposure to the Arctic came about in 1977 when he and daughter Heike drove from Ottawa to the Yukon and Alaska on a personal assignment. He wanted to photograph the installation of a new bridge over the Eagle River, some 15 km from the Arctic Circle.〔 This bridge is the northernmost steel bridge of its kind, with special high tensile strength steel to withstand the temperature differences of the North. That steel was produced by Stelco of Hamilton, Ontario, one of Blohm's clients. The Canadian Army Corps of engineers set up the bridge across the Eagle River on the unfinished Dempster Highway in winter 1976-77. In winter 1978-79, Blohm headed north again up the Dempster Highway. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hans Blohm」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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