Inuvik (Oct 06/03) - Photographer Leslie Leong's new book showcases the natural beauty of the NWT and her people.

Canada's Northwest Territories, A Land of Diversity is Leong's second compilation of photographs of the North.

The Fort Smith-based photographer's first book, Our Forgotten North, was primarily about the sub-Arctic and has since gone out of print. Leong decided to use some images from that book in this new offering, but also images from above the treeline.

"Instead of reprinting that one, I wanted to create one that was about all of the Northwest Territories," she said.

Following the territorial split with Nunavut, she saw the opportunity to feature the NWT and portray a realistic and up-to-date view of the territory.

"When people think of the North, they think of polar bears and seals and icebergs and that's just not the North today," she said.

Leong has used images from the Beaufort Delta to capture the human imprint on the land, the Igloo Church, the Great Northern Arts Festival, Northern Games, and the Delta Drummers and Dancers.

The book features a full-page spread on Tuktoyaktuk, many images from Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Holman, Tuk Tut Nogait and Auvaluk National Parks and the Yukon's Herschel Island.

"It is part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, so I felt it was really a part of the people," Leong said. The book is self-published by a Winnipeg printer and took her about 12 years to collect the photographs used in the publication.

"While most people would fly South for their vacations, I would spend all my holidays going on trips in the North," she said.

The diversity of the geography always caught her eye, but she says now her focus has shifted.

"I seem to be a lot more interested in doing the people, whereas before it was mostly landscapes," she said.

"Sure I've been here for 12 years, but there are tons of things I haven't seen yet and even at that, even when you go back to the same places, it's different," she said.

"The light in the North is so fantastic," Leong said. "The sunrises and sunsets are the prime photographic parts of the day and the further North you go, the longer that light lasts."

"It's a funny thing; this is supposed to be a cold place, but that light is so warm."