This series of photographs were taken in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, in the western Canadian Arctic while I was working with an indigenous owned company, which provides northern communities with supplies and freight annually.
The scheduling of deliveries is completely dependent on sea ice conditions as there is a short window in which the waterways are clear of ice. When winter approaches access to the communities via tug and barge is suspended until the next summer. Recently, changing sea ice conditions caused by changes in climate have allowed for longer periods of open ice.
While I was spending time in the region I became increasingly aware of the effects of decreasing sea ice on the indigenous plants, animals and people. The Arctic’s sea ice is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including polar bears, Arctic foxes, seals, walrus, and whales, fish species such as Arctic cod and char, and sea birds such as guillemots, auks, and eiders. The sea ice also provides a migration route for caribou and muskox, as well as traditional hunting ground for the Inuit.
Since my time in the Kitikmeot region I have been exploring the effect of climate change on the waters of the Arctic Archipelago. Decreasing sea ice in the north is opening up the North West Passage creating increased shipping traffic for greater lengths of time. This access is generating tension and debate between the five countries which border the Arctic: Russia, the United States (via Alaska), Norway and Denmark (via Greenland) as each contend for resources such as oil and gas beneath the continental shelves.
This brief but powerful exposure to the environmental changes in the north provided me with the opportunity to photograph the local culture and landscape. This series reflects my initial impressions of this vulnerable region and its global significance.
