This fonds consists of approximately 54,000 black and white negatives, postcards and prints, and one file of text that encompasses Hans Heinrich Maximilian (Henry) Busse's professional photographic work.
7909 images have been given full item description. Of these, the stock file consists of 4909 images that Busse may have considered important or saleable and these were arranged alphabetically by subject by the Museum of the North. Images in the stock file feature a wide range of subjects including animals, boats, bush pilots, aircraft, Dene, Inuit, and mining operations. There are also images of Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Cambridge Bay, Port Radium, Eskimo Point (Arviat), Fort Rae (Behchoko), Lac la Martre (Whati), Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Fort Reliance, Yellowknife and Aklavik. Another 3000 images have been selected from the entire collection and given full item description. Additional subject matter includes Yellowknife social events, weddings, sports teams and games, church activities, Yellowknife businesses, and school events. The remainder of the photographic material is as Busse left it, as photo order envelopes. These images have been rehoused, noting any information on the original envelope, and describing the number and content of the images. A large proportion of these images are studio portraits of Yellowknife residents.
The textual material consists mainly of correspondence from Busse's customers found in the photo order envelopes, as well as three certificates for photograph contest awards from 1958-1960.
An additional accession provided by an anonymous donor contains 42 prints and postcards of Aboriginal people, mostly from the Eastern Arctic.
Some photographs may be the work of Busse's business partner, Gerhard (Gerry) Reimann, or of other studio assistants.
