Arctic Image festival to show work of North photographers
Group aims to help revitalize downtown and provide high-quality printing opportunity
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, June 1, 2017
INUVIK
The Arctic Image Festival is trying to take photos beyond Facebook and into hard-copy, high-quality prints.
David Stewart of the Inuvialuit Communications Society, and Elizabeth Kolb, Arctic Image Festival coordinator, encourage the community to come out and support Northern
photographers at this weekend's Arctic Image Festival. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
|
This weekend, the group is holding its fourth annual event, during which it will show off a range of prints by Northern photographers and provide workshops with photography professionals.
"It's a way to show local photographers' work and work from anywhere in the Arctic," explained Elizabeth Kolb, the event's coordinator.
Photos will be strung up around the Midnight Sun Complex, which will also host a number of exhibitions and photography workshops throughout the event.
David Stewart, from the Inuvialuit Communications Society, said the group is trying to bring more attention to some of the gems in the North, such as prolific photographer Kristian Binder, whose images and drone use have made his work a regular staple on Inuvik Facebook pages.
"He's not the reason we're doing something like this, but he's the type of person we really want to support," said Stewart.
The group is also excited to display some of its archives, hoping people can recognize relatives and times from the past.
With a donated space in the Mac Travel Building and a high-quality printer, the Arctic Image Festival is hoping to move beyond this weekend's event to provide a year-round service to photographers.
"In a community like this, there are all these photos that are just sitting on people's computers and (in their) basements, and it's so nice to get them out and put them on a wall and get some fresh eyes on them," said Stewart.
People who entered the photo contest for this weekend's event will have their work printed for free, and that service may extend to people who recognize a family member in an archived shot.
In the future, the Arctic Image Festival will be looking to charge people a small fee to make professional-quality prints with its machinery.
"It can print wider than my arm span, and that's just the short width," said Kolb.
"The goal of this place is to help revitalize downtown and have a creative centre where people can meet, print photos and maybe this will be more than just a weekend-a-year event."
The event runs from Friday to Sunday this weekend. Workshops will be available for budding shutterbugs to participate in.
Find a full schedule at arcticimagefestival.com.
