UUMMANNAQThe Heart of a SealTeaser for an unpublished long-term projectfor a full 30 pictures edit, send me an e-mail
Uummannaq, Greenland, an island town off the country’s western coast, is at a crucial moment in its history. For countless generations, the Inuit people who reside here have relied on their natural surroundings to survive. Today, Uummannaq’s future looks far different from the past. This years winter was the warmest arctic winter on record. Its the fastest warming region on earth and climate change is affecting the daily life in small coastal towns who live with sea ice since hundreds of years. Modernities, such as imported food, brand name clothing, and snow scooters now compete with the proud traditions and connections to the nature of the area. The purpose of this project is to show how the Inuit culture intersects with the town’s present-day conditions, and to pose the question of how long the area’s traditions will remain in contrast with its changing circumstances.
Uummannaq means a heart-shaped mountain. In this case, it‘s not a human heart the Inuit talk about—it‘s the heart of a seal. At the foot of this mountain, 590 km² north of the Polar Circle in western Greenland, lies a town with the same name: Uummannaq. A remote island inhabited by 1325 individuals, the village is connected only by ships and a helicopter to the outside world.
Teaser for an unpublished long-term projectfor a full 30 pictures edit, send me an e-mail