Capturing Our Changing World: A Statement by Tony Eetak
My photography is a reflection of the world I see, the world I’m growing up in, as an Inuit youth who grew up in Nunavut. It’s a world of stark beauty, of vastness that can take your breath away, but it’s also a world that is changing, and changing in ways that we can’t ignore. These images are my attempt to capture that duality: the enduring power of our land and the subtle, sometimes unsettling, shifts that are happening around us.
For this mini virtual exhibition, I chose my home community. Arviat. Nunavut.
Growing up here, you learn to read the land. You learn to see the signs. It’s not always the big, dramatic changes that tell the story. Sometimes, it’s the small things: the way the snow melts a little earlier each year, the places where the ice is thinner than it used to be, the way the light itself seems different. These photographs are my way of documenting those subtle changes, of bearing witness to the transformation of a landscape that is deeply woven into our identity and our way of life.
I love to compose my own music. I can play the guitar, the piano, keyboard and have been learning to use digital tools as well. And drums. This project let me combine both photography and music in new ways and to explore how we can use them to tell stories about our people, and our climate with a sense of dignity.
Telling our Stories through Light and Music
Through my lens, I try to capture the everyday reality of living in a changing Arctic. It’s not just about the dramatic landscapes, though those are undeniably powerful. It’s also about the towns and communities, the places where we live and work and raise our families. It’s about how these changes affect our daily lives, our traditions, and our future.
This exhibition is a personal journey, a visual exploration of my relationship with this land. It’s a story of a place that is both timeless and in flux, a place that is both beautiful and vulnerable. It is my hope that these images will spark a conversation, not just about the challenges we face, but also about the resilience and strength of our communities and our deep connection to the environment.
We are the inheritors of this land, and it is our responsibility to protect it for future generations. Through these photographs, I want to share my perspective, my concerns, and my love for this place, and to invite you to join us in understanding and addressing the challenges of a changing climate.
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Manitoba Arts Council Indigenous 360 program for their invaluable support during last season’s Fall and Winter 2024-2025 program. The skills I gained through this program have been instrumental in helping me tell new stories in new ways, and I am deeply thankful for the opportunity. I would also like to thank Jamie Bell from Global Dignity Canada, Kami Norland, MA, ATR from the Masters of Arts in Creative Leadership at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Dr. Olaf Kuhlke from the MCAD Creative Entrepreneurship program for their guidance and support. Also, thank you to Environment and Climate Change Canada for supporting the original Our People Our Climate project, which has been delivered many times now and to the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse for creating the projects and skills development in Winnipeg that made this work today possible.
