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Źródło: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240816-ittoqqortoormiit-the-most-remote-community-in-the-western-hemisphere

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Photographing one of the most remote places on Earth

Photographing one of the most remote places on Earth

Frozen inodcięty przez lód for nine months every year and located 800km from the next townpołożone 800 km od najbliższego miasta, Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, offers a fascinatingfascynujący glimpseprzebłysk; krótkie spojrzenie at life at the edge of the worldna krańcu świata.

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In our ever-connected world, it's rare to experience true remotenessoddalenie. It's also extraordinaryniezwykły to witness how people live in one of the Earth's most isolatedodizolowany places. But during a once-in-a-lifetimezdarzający się raz w życiu photographic expeditionwyprawa to the most remote inhabitedzamieszkany community in the western hemispherepółkula, I was able to do both these things.

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Ittoqqortoormiit (pronounced: it-ockor-tormit) is a 370-person village of colourfully painted homes sandwiched betweenpołożony między the world's largest national park to the north and the largest fjordfiord system in the world to the south. There are no roads to Ittoqqortoormiit; the only way to get there is by helicopter, boat (in the summer), snowmobileskuter śnieżny or one of two weekly flights to Nerlerit Inaat airport, roughly 40km away: one from Iceland, and the other from West Greenland.

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Located above the Arctic Circle at 70°N and roughly 800km from the nearest town, Ittoqqortoormiit's backyard is a frigidmroźna, untameddzika wildernessdzika, odludna kraina home to polar bears, musk oxenpiżmowoły and millions of sea birds who nest on icebergs. Sea ice freezes the village in for nine months a year, but offers a lifelineratunek to Ittoqqortoormiit's Inuit inhabitantsmieszkańcom, who travel it by dog sled to hunt. The village celebrated its centenarysetną rocznicę in 2025, but in recent years, its population has been shrinkingzmniejsza się (35% since 2006, by some estimateswedług niektórych szacunków) as young people are increasingly migrating to cities to study or pursuewybierać different careers than the traditional Arctic hunting of their forefathersprzodków. What's more, as rising temperatures cause the surrounding sea ice to freeze later and melt earlier, and as the US increasingly discusses buying Greenland, Ittoqqortoormiit finds itself on the front linesna pierwszej linii frontu of both climate change and geo-politicalgeopolitycznych tensionsnapięć.

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My winter excursionwyprawa to Ittoqqortoormiit wasn't just an adventure that took me outside my comfort zonepoza moją strefą komfortu; it was one of the most challenging experiences I've ever had. After flying from Reykjavík to Nerlerit Inaat, I spent five days on the pack icepole lodowe in temperatures plummetingspadających gwałtownie as low as -40C. I travelled on dogsleds, slept in tents and small hunter hutschaty myśliwskie (with no beds, running waterbieżąca woda, heating or facilities) and dashedmknąłem 45km on a snowmobile through a white-outzamieć ograniczająca widoczność do zera blizzardzamieć śnieżna with 80kmph winds.

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Ultimately, this turned outokazało się to be far more than a photography expeditionwyprawa, as it offered a rare glimpserzadki wgląd of life in one of the most remote landscapes on Earth. It also revealed how Ittoqqortoormiit's remaining residents are struggling to adapt their deep-rooted traditionsgłęboko zakorzenione tradycje to a rapidly changing world.

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My trip was organised by the renownedsławny photographer Joshua Holko, who arranged for two local Inuit guides, Åge Danielsen and Manasse Tuko, to whiskprzewieźć szybko myself and two other photographers across the ice on their dog sledspsie zaprzęgi from the Nerlerit Inaat airport to Ittoqqortoormiit with the aim of capturinguwieczniać some of Earth's most starksurowy, stunning polar landscapes.

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We established camp in small tents close to the airport the first night as temperatures were -30C and falling. After sawing frozen cod on the snow, as a carpenter would cut through timberprzecinać drewno, and boiling it in a pan of melted ice, Danielsen and Tuko announced that dinner was ready. The cod was excellent, if bonypełen ości, but we were more concerned about what lay ahead. I had never experienced cold like this before, and as we hunkered downschroniliśmy się for the night, strong winds batteredsmagały the tents while the sled dogs howled when Arctic foxes and – perhaps – polar bears passed. As the temperature continued dropping, my legs soon started to crampłapać skurcz. It was truly a baptism by coldchrzest bojowy w ekstremalnym zimnie.

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Shortly after breakfast, Danielsen and Tuko started loading our supplies. As I watched, they expertlywprawnie transformedprzekształcili the empty dog sledssanie ciągnięte przez psy into containers on skatespojemniki na płozach filled with bags, cooler boxesprzenośne lodówki turystyczne, camera cases, dog food and more. They skillfullyzręcznie tied the goods onprzymocowali towary with ropes, demonstrating skills that they explained were passed downprzekazywane from father to son.

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We sat two to a sled with a guide at the front driving the dogs. For the next six days, 12 Greenland sled dogspsy zaprzęgowe assigned to each sled carried loads of more than 450kg and ran their hearts outbiegały z całych sił for up to 25km a day. These beloved animals (called qimmiit in Greenland's Inuit language, Kalaallisut), which are a large husky-typetypu husky breed, are believed to have been brought from Siberia to Greenland some 1,000 years ago by the Inuit's direct ancestorsprzodkowie, the Thule people, and are something of a national iconcoś w rodzaju symbolu narodowego in Greenland. Not only do they represent an important part of Inuit culture and their connection to the land, but as we'd soon find, they also had the advantage of being much quieter than snowmobilesskutery śnieżne, therefore improving our chances of photographing wildlifedzikie zwierzęta – or, in Danielsen and Tuko's case, when they weren't guiding us, hunting wildlifedzikie zwierzęta.

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One morning, after eating toast heated by spearingnadziewając it with a knife and holding it over a burnerpalnik, Danielsen pointed up towards the mountains as the dogs carried us 10km west of Ittoqqortoormiit. We looked up and saw four musk oxenpiżmowoły standing on a distant ridgegrań.

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Weighing up to 400kg, these prehistoric-lookingwyglądający jak prehistoryczny beasts, with short horns protrudingwystające from their cheeks and long-flowing black and tan fur overcoats blowing in the strong wind, were as photogenicfotogeniczny as they were imposingmajestatyczne. We disembarkedzeszli from the sleds and proceededruszyliśmy with great caution, as Holko warned us that these Ice Age relicsrelikty can be skittishpłochliwe and aggressive: move too quickly and they will run offuciec; get too close and they will charge. After an hour of shooting these goliathsolbrzymy, they started climbing higher into the mountain passesprzełęcze górskie, perhaps knowing that they are regarded as a local delicacylokalny przysmak in Ittoqqortoormiit.

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On our third day, Danielsen mentioned that he owned a hut about 25km away and invited us to spend two nights there. We were humbledwzruszeni i onieśmieleni by his kindness – especially because his home was strategicallyw strategicznie korzystnym miejscu positioned to spot polar bears on the pack icelód pakowy. The brightly painted blue hut was just large enough for a small sofa, chair, sink, stove and a rare sit-down toilettoaleta sedesowa – but the most noticeable feature was the large slaughter hookhak rzeźniczy hanging from the ceiling.

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It reminded us that whilst Danielsen may have taken onpodjąć się guiding to supplementuzupełnić his income, hunting is his passion, his profession and his ancestralodziedziczona po przodkach tradition. By lawzgodnie z prawem, hunters here aren't allowed to sell meat or skins from their killsupolowane zwierzęta – or in the case of musk ox, import them abroad. Instead, the meat can only be used to provide food and clothing for families – just as it has for generations.

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While at his house, we learned that Danielsen wasn't just a proud Inuitinuicki hunter but also a father of four children. He explained that his father was a hunter, his grandfather was a hunter and he hoped his youngest son would follow in his footstepspójść w jego ślady one day. Holko had found a skullczaszka of a musk oxpiżmowół the previous day and gave it to Danielsen, who was elatedzachwycony. I asked Danielsen if I could photograph him holding the skull and he happily obligedzgodził się.

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Later over dinner, we talked. "Look at these photos," Danielsen said smiling, as he showed me his mobile phone. "This is my father, yesterday." His father was standing over a huge polar bear lying dead on the ice. "And look at these," he said with great pride, swiping throughprzeglądając photos of three huge adult polar bears that he had killed. Due to warming temperatures over recent decades, polar bears have been forced to change their migration patternswzorce migracji, bringing them closer to communities like Ittoqqortoormiit and posing real dangers to people and themselves.

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From Danielsen's hut, we headed 20km east. As our sledssanie glidedsunęły over the snow and ice, I marvelledzachwycałem się at the scenery and serenityspokój that surrounded me.

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The light was magical; mistymglisty and moodynastrojowy with soft rays of sun caressingpieszczące the blue-tonedo niebieskawym odcieniu pack icelód pakowy. We passed toweringstrzeliste icebergs and eruptionswybrzuszenia of compactedubitego ice that nature had sculptedwyrzeźbiła into works of artdzieła sztuki. This was a landscape photographer's paradise. Being in complete darkness at night with no light pollutionzanieczyszczenie światłem, the Northern Lights regularly dance through the skies on clear nights in autumn and winter. Even this phenomenonzjawisko, known locally as arsarnerit„ci, którzy grają w piłkę” ("those who play ball") has a connection to hunting, as the lights are believed to be the soulsdusze of children playing with a walrusmors skull.

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After five long days of travel, we arrived at Kap Hope, a small settlementosada of about 20 old huts 14km west of Ittoqqortoormiit with views of ice packlód pakowy for miles. Exhausted and bitterly cold, the six of us unfurledrozwinęli sleeping bags in one of the cabins. The following morning, as he peered out ofwyjrzał a small window with binocularslornetka, Danielsen suddenly shouted, "Polar bear! Polar bear!" and pointed into the distance.

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My adrenaline was pumpingAdrenalina buzowała mi w żyłach as I thought about photographing the largest land-based carnivoremięsożerca on Earth – an apex predatordrapieżnik szczytowy that can smell its preyofiara 32km away. We made our way downzeszliśmy the side of the mountain, carefully carrying our cameras and longest lenses in heavy winter gear. The bear, 6km away, remained on the ice for 20 minutes or so before saunteringprzechadzając się away. I had dreamed about photographing what Holko describes as the "ghosts of the Arctic" – polar bears whose white fur blends inwtapia się so perfectly with its surroundingsotoczenie that they're barely visible – but this was the closest I'd come.

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There is only one guesthouse in the western hemisphere'spółkuli most remote community, and it's fittinglyjak przystało named Guesthouse. We were due to restmieli odpoczywać here for the next three days before flying out, and after nearly a week in the frozen wildernessdzikiej głuszy, it took some time to get used toprzyzwyczaić się do Ittoqqortoormiit. Brightly painted houses standing in deep white snow dominated the landscapesdominowały w krajobrazie. Teams of dogs were chained to empty sledssaniami like an Arctic taxi rank. Snowmobiles zipped aroundmknęły po town as people went aboutzajmowali się their daily lives.

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In recent years, Ittoqqortoormiit has been billing itself as a destinationreklamując się jako cel podróży for adventurers – a place where you can cut throughprzedzierać się przez the ice on a boat, trek through the tundratundra, view icebergs and explore a part of the world that few people on the planet will ever see. But as a policeman (one of three, I was told) waved to me as he passed on his snowmobile, I no longer felt like an adventurer, but a small part of this far-flungodległy, położony na uboczu community.

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You can walk across Ittoqqortoormiit in about 30 minutes. It's comprisedskłada się of a church, a small travel agency, a police station, a bar, a guesthouse, a heliportlądowisko dla helikopterów and a small supermarket called Pilersuisoq that's supplied by two ship deliveriesdostawy statkiem each season. Wandering the sparsely stockedskąpo zaopatrzone aislesalejki, I was struck by the high cost of everything. I wondered how, in a place where there were few jobs, locals could affordmóc sobie pozwolić na these prices.

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Outside, the polar bear skins hanging on scaffoldingrusztowanie near so many houses reminded me of this community's originspoczątki. I'd embarked onrozpocząłem this adventure to capture unique images of wildlife. And while the "ghosts of the Arctic" eludedwymknęły się me on this occasion, it didn't matter, as I'd gained a far greater appreciationuznanie for how people managed to live in one of the remotestnajbardziej odległych places on Earth.

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Kevin Hall is a photographer based in England. To see more of his work, follow him on Instagram.

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This story was originallypierwotnie published in 2024. It has since been updated.

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