Mick Hartley

On display in Print Sales at the Photographers' Gallery, Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson:

Driven by a sense of extreme urgency, he left the paper to focus on documenting the Arctic’s untold stories before they disappear. Hunting communities in the Arctic are integral to the cultural and social fabric of the North. Having passed down centuries-old traditions, the once-reliable sea ice now shifts unpredictably, reshaping hunting grounds and upending daily life for communities that depend on it. As the younger generation moves away from traditional hunting, Axelsson’s images reveal a world in transition.

Axelsson immerses himself in Arctic communities for weeks, earning the trust and friendship necessary to portray the unguarded realities of their everyday lives. “I write down what people say and how they feel; I try to capture that in their eyes,” Axelsson explains. His work is both a race against time and a profound act of witnessing, as he aims to convey the effects of climate change as a very real presence for these communities, rather than an uncertain future.

[Photos: Ragnar Axelsson]

All but the last three images are from Axelsson's Faces of the North series, first published in 2004. The last three, more recent, are featured in the Photographers' Gallery exhibition.

Previously, Sled Dogs.