David Kakuktinniq Jr.’s rise to proficiency in a ‘photographer’s paradise’

When David Kakuktinniq Jr. introduces himself, he typically says he has an important job that pays the payments however that his true ardour is images.

“This is photographer’s paradise,” he stated of his hometown of Rankin Inlet, virtually shocked that he’s one among solely a handful of native images aficionados.

To be capable of get shot of a starry night time, southern photographers should drive for hours into the wilderness to flee the sunshine air pollution from big-city lights that makes stars much less seen.

Meanwhile, most of Kakuktinniq’s images had been taken inside a 15-minute drive from his residence.

“We don’t have much infrastructure development, that leaves the landscape more natural and we have crystal-clear sky,” he stated.

Even although 32-year-old Kakuktinniq is retaining images as a facet hustle to his day job at Kivalliq Inuit Association, lately he earned recognition as a neighborhood photographer and is hoping to develop his attain by probably mixing his images abilities and data of a Rankin Inlet wildlife tour information.

He just lately talked to Nunatsiaq News about how his profession has unfolded to date.

Minimal mild air pollution makes Nunavut a “photographer’s paradise” with stars and northern lights shining brighter than within the south, David Kakuktinniq Jr. says. (Photo courtesy of David Kakuktinniq Jr.)

• March 2012: Kakuktinniq was a part of Nunavut’s four-member junior male curling group heading to Whitehorse for the Arctic Winter Games. He borrowed his older sister’s Nikon P500 digicam and began taking photos of mountain surroundings and different members of their uniforms. Although Kakuktinniq didn’t change into an award-winning roller — his group ended up in final place — he found a brand new ardour. “So I credit my sister for indirectly getting me into photography,” he says.
• Later in March 2012: As quickly as he received again to Rankin Inlet, he received himself a Nikon P510, a step up from his sister’s digicam, and began taking images of landscapes, northern lights and starry skies.
• 2014: He received his first interchangeable-lens digicam, a Nikon d7100. On one hand, having the ability to change lenses on a digicam makes higher images. But this was additionally one other step towards skilled images, which meant he was on the trail to spending a whole bunch of {dollars} on lenses, gear and filters, making an attempt to maintain up with the ever-changing world of digital cameras.
• 2015: A serious milestone — Kakuktinniq offered his first prints. One was a photograph of the northern lights, and the opposite was a purple sundown over a river. He offered every of the prints for $150, and that’s when he realized that he may begin getting cash off his images.
• 2015 to 2023: “Just a hobby” was beginning to flip into a real ardour. Five- to 10-minute images journeys outdoors of the city would regularly flip into three-hour journeys that he would embark on at 2 a.m. to seize the very best photographs of the Milky Way or northern lights. As effectively, he earned himself a reputation doing occasion images for the Government of Nunavut, Inuit organizations and companies.
• August 2025: Kakuktinniq began inviting his buddies and colleagues, particularly these new to the North, to tag alongside throughout his images journeys on the land to observe the northern lights or the celebrities. In simply two days, greater than 30 folks reached out asking to affix him on these walks. “I want to share this experience with them,” he says.

Tip from the commerce: Photography is a kind of “just-do-it” abilities. “Throw yourself out there — the only way you’re gonna learn is by trial and error,” Kakuktinniq says.

Kakuktinniq Arctic expertise decide: His sister, Victoria Kakuktinniq, who together with kickstarting his images profession is an internationally famend dressmaker as a founding father of Victoria’s Arctic Fashion.