Photographic detective work led to the discovery of formerly hidden masterpieces of First Nations painting on wood at the University of British Columbia. When museum curator Bill McLennan unvocered images beneath weathered surfaces using infrared film, the Image Recovery Projet was born, its object to develop a database of infrared photographs of historical Northwest Coast paintings.
The Transforming Image brings together some of the most intriguing images, many revealed for the first time in over a hunderd years. Karen Duffek's text adds new insights derived from the project's detective work, linking painting imates to communities, histories and the hands of individual painters.