shashasha

“The indigenous peoples of Greenland have lived traditional hunting lifestyles directly connected to the cycles of the Earth and the universe since long before contemporary society began to advocate for nature with words like ecology and sustainability. I set out into the far north in search of a lifestyle closest to those roots of humanity.”
― from Tsutomu Endo’s afterword

Tsutomu Endo’s series “Miaggoortoq” is part of a larger project to document the current state of the indigenous lifestyles in the Arctic. For “Miaggoortoq,” Endo traveled all over Greenland and captured utterly fascinating scenes. Although primarily ethnographic in nature, his photographs convey a palpable sense of the white and blue masses of snow and ice, the slow erosion of wood and stone, the tingling pain of the air, and, above all, Endo’s fascination with the hunters’ lifestyle and the fresh color of blood. By closely following the views and actions of his subjects, Endo’s photographs go beyond the visual to touch and engage the psychological and metaphysical aspects of the indigenous communities he visited throughout Greenland.

The book includes an afterword and a travel journal written by Tsutomu Endo (included in Japanese & English translation).