Dear dogged readers,
This week we are thrilled to highlight Alaska-based photographer Brian Adams. Most recently, he culled widespread recognition for his project I Am Inuit – a photography and short story project (now a book) eschewing stereotypes of the individuals who call the Alaskan Arctic home. Being half-Inupiaq himself, Adams gives us an intimate view of what life really is like in twenty Inuit villages. This series is tender, beautiful, and tinged with a bit of environmental activism.
Read on and get inspired. Then go buy the book.
Let’s get started with the basics. Are you from Anchorage, Alaska, or did you move there? What’s life like for you these days?
I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and grew up in a small ski town about 33 miles south of Anchorage. My dad’s side of the family is from Kivalina—a small Inupiaq village on the northwest coast of Alaska. When I was born, my family was still living there but moved to the Anchorage area soon after. I loved growing up in Girdwood, I would skateboard in the summer and snowboard in the winter.
These days, I spend most of my time either shooting, setting up projects, or spending time with my family. I have been a freelance photographer for 12 years now, every day brings something new to the table.
What drew you to pursue photography?
Growing up skateboarding, I loved making skateboard videos of my friends. When I was in high school I started taking photo classes because it was the closest thing my school had to a video class. After reading an article in a skateboard magazine about a photographer switching from 35mm film to medium format film, I had to know what this medium format was.
My photography teacher had a medium format camera to lend out to students, he ended up lending it to me for two years. I was hooked. After that, all I wanted to do was make big photos. At the time, I didn’t even realize photography could be a profession, I just did it for fun. I graduated from high school in 2003, and three months out of high school I started assisting a local photographer. While I was assisting I started picking up little clients here and there and then went freelance in 2005.
I am half-Inupiaq, and in 2005, my family and I went to my father’s home village for my Grand Mother’s funeral. After that trip, I knew I wanted to focus a large part of my career on Alaska Natives and Indigenous issues.
In many of the I Am Inuit images, the subjects you photograph have a genuine, joyous glow. What is your connection to these subjects? What is most important and compelling about these lives you highlight?
I started the I Am Inuit project in 2015, with The Inuit Circum Polar Council of Alaska, and the Anchorage Museum. The goal of the project was to connect the world with Alaskan Inuit through common humanity. What was different about this project compared to other work done on Alaskan Inuit was that the people in the photos got to tell their own stories and speak directly to the audience. My process for choosing subjects was very relaxed, and I didn’t photograph or interview anyone that didn’t want to be apart of it. I am not a pushy person, and if someone doesn’t want to be photographed you can always tell in the image, and not in a good way.
“What was different about this project compared to other work done on Alaskan Inuit was that the people in the photos got to tell their own stories and speak directly to the audience.”
I think a lot of people believed in the good of the project, and it helped people relax in front of the camera and have fun. Being half-Inupiaq and Alaskan myself really helped along the way—I already had something in common with my subjects (sometimes family). Most journalists visiting these villages don’t have much to relate to with these subjects, making it harder to get deeper with who they are talking to, I believe.
What’s the story behind this image? I love the understated smile on her face and the lit-up windows of the house. I wanted to know what was happening inside!
This is one of my favorite portraits I have ever taken. Her name is Marie Rexford, she lives in the village of Kaktovik. Kaktovik is a whaling village and also well-known for its polar bears. Marie and her family were preparing all this muktuk for the village’s Thanksgiving day feast, which was about a week away. With the stick she is holding, she was separating all the muktuk to make sure it didn’t congeal together when they put it back in storage. The house was full of people working on butchering the whale meat into smaller pieces, like the ones in the picture.
“Marie is such a strong Inuit woman, and I have always felt like she represents the best of what this project is.”
Marie, and I had to work together on making this photo happen. When I saw what she was doing, I asked her to stop for a picture, and hold very still, because I had to take the picture at an exposure of an eighth of a second. At the time I was there, there were only about forty minutes of daylight but luckily there was street lamp behind me to help light up the scene. Marie is such a strong Inuit woman, and I have always felt like she represents the best of what this project is.
What about the future excites you?
I am excited to keep working on photographing Inuit, hopefully all over the Arctic soon. I want to keep telling stories, and bringing awareness to Arctic issues and how important it is to protect the way of life of Inuit.
When you put the camera down, what are you doing?
When I am not behind the camera, I am spending time with my family and trying to be the best dad I can be. As for work, being a freelance photographer always has its challenges, so it’s a non-stop hustle to make things happen and get the work out there. But, there isn’t anything I would rather be doing.
