Acts of Seeing: Kimmirut

Photo by John MacDougall

September 12, 2007, I was in Kimmirut for a meeting of Qikiqtani Inuit Association. Every chance I got while I was there, I roamed the hamlet, hunting for interesting images. I watched as a boat called the Misty Michelle was launched and loaded for a trip to a soapstone quarry to get some carving stone. What I like about this picture is the clear afternoon light, the human activity (nine people aboard the two boats, including a kid with red boots perched precariously on the deck edge), the silvery water, the brilliant red dot of a buoy, the freshly painted whiteness of the Misty Michelle, and – most of all – that sublimely textured rock backdrop, with its slanted seams and subtle shades of white, gray, black, and ochre.