Acts of Seeing: Inuit Sled

Photo by John MacDougall

In this series, I look at some of my own photos and try to determine their governing aesthetic. 

May 9, 2006, I found myself in Ikpiarjuk, Nunavut, for a Qikiqtani Inuit Association meeting. In the evening, after the meeting adjourned, I went out on the ice and photographed the many beautiful long-runnered Inuit sleds parked there. One sled, in particular, caught my eye. It was at least twenty-four feet long and had a cabin painted powder blue that matched the color of the sky. The picture is filled with clear Arctic light. That’s the aspect I most relish, that and the over-all colors – blue and white, with the tow rope adding just the right touch of bright yellow.