Dennis Lehtonen’s Aerial Views of Distant Greenland Villages Illuminate an Evolving Land — Colossal

The world’s largest island that isn’t its personal continent, Greenland spans greater than 836,000 square miles. As we’ve been reminded recently, the territory is a part of the Realm of Denmark, though it has its personal techniques of native authorities. Greenland is residence to solely about 56,000 folks, the overwhelming majority of whom are Inuit and dwell on the southern a part of the island that’s not coated in ice. The largest metropolis, Nuuk, homes round one-third of the nation’s inhabitants. And located simply south of the Arctic Circle, residents solely see a couple of hours of daylight throughout the day in mid-winter.

Hunting and fishing have historically sustained a subsistence life-style for Greenlanders, and as we speak, the latter continues as the muse of the nation’s economic system. It’s a shocking island, with dramatic mountains, fjords, and rocky coastlines. For photographer Dennis Lehtonen, who moved to Greenland in early 2023 and located work in its fish factories, the inherent fantastic thing about the area is endlessly enchanting.

Lehtonen captures atmospheric pictures of distinctive landscapes and tiny villages, like when a pair of monumental icebergs floated by one neighborhood earlier this 12 months. He illuminates the vernacular structure and distant, rugged fantastic thing about the nation whereas drawing consideration to altering demographics.

Like many locations all over the world, populations are declining in rural, small cities on account of youthful folks transferring away to bigger cities for various job alternatives, making a domino impact of business decline in smaller settlements. In many areas, a variety of properties stand deserted, and because the mid-Twentieth century, a couple of ghost towns have emerged.

Using a drone, Lehtonen captures these otherworldly locations the place time-honored traditions confront our modern, globalized world. He goals to {photograph} all the roughly 70 inhabited locations in Greenland, making a sort of poignant document.

“With many young people moving to a few bigger cities, it means that many smaller, remote places experience severe depopulation,” Lehtonen says. “It’s therefore highly realistic that some places I have lived in will be closed as I get older.” See extra on Instagram.