Arviat (Oct 06/04) - The community of Arviat has gone snap happy. The creation of a photo club in the spring was the first step, but a recent week of photography workshops has hooked the community's new generation of picture takers.

The Mikilaaq Centre brought Ottawa photographer Robert Mayr to the hamlet Sept. 17-21. He hosted workshops covering everything from caring for your camera to night photography.

Residents of the hamlet took part in activities such as family portraits, a trip out on the land, as well as receiving oodles of photography tips.

A suitcase full of equipment Mayr brought with him went like hot cakes, with everything from standard cameras to digital ones being sold.

"They are very excited about it. It's really giving them a direction, something to do," he said.

Mayr took participants to shoot the Aurora Borealis and taught them tricks to capture photos out on the land.

"You have to teach people the beauty of where you are," said the first-time visitor to Nunavut. Leon Pameok is a member of the photo club and took part in the week's activities.

"It's been a good learning experience so far. It's really changed my point of view on taking pictures," he said.

He spent the week exploring the possibilities of his new Nikon digital camera with Mayr's help.

Pameok is excited to see youth getting involved in photography, which gives them something constructive to do.

Lynne Rollin, one of the organizers of the club and the workshops, hopes this will attract more members to the club, which currently has about 10-15 regular members.

"This is really our launching time," she said.

After-school sessions

Rollin and fellow organizer Nadine Lamoureux plan to make the workshops an annual event. They also want to host after-school sessions for youth, field trips and displays of prints throughout the year.

The biggest event of the week was likely the photo contest held Sept. 20. There were more than 100 photos on display, with subjects ranging from people, to nature, to traditional shots.