ABSTRACT
This essay explores ‘wilderness’ as a realm of imagination and belonging. Taking work made in Lapland by Finnish photographer, Jorma Puranen, and British photographer, Elizabeth Williams, as examples, it considers how artists from elsewhere explore regional cultures that are marginalized or hidden in archives. It is argued that both artists challenge us to rethink stereotypes or people and place, and that their work contributes to a radical de-constructive anthropology that challenges Eurocentricity and refuses un-reflexive notions of otherness. That it was an invited contribution to a volume on Cultures and Settlements, as opposed to an exhibition catalogue or a photography-led publication, productively offered a particular context for research and reflection.
