Midnight sun and other Greenlandic landscapes

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Duplo
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Midnight sun and other Greenlandic landscapes

Post by Duplo »

Well I have now returned from my weekend assignment up North and thought it would be about time to post another round of recent landscape work.
But I will get back to that.

Greenlandic spring and summer is probably best know for its extremely harsh and very contrasty midday sun, Kangerlussuaq just above the Arctic Circle where I spend a weekend 3 weeks ago, exhibits more than ever ,because as the snow disappers from the dark rocks and the sun rises high you are left with some rather extreme contrasts. to makes matters worse during late spring is the fact that the fiords are still covered with a thick layer of sparling white ice.
But i have come to like it for black and white work and these two photos are perfect samples of why i like it so much.

From Kangerlussuaq:
Image

Image

Now as said this weekend I had the pleasure of a short notise 3 day assignment in the wonderful city of Ilulissat, position well above the polar circle in the bottom of the huge Disco bay and right next to the Icefiord, housing the most productive glacier in the world it is a photographic wonderland for me and without a doubt one of the most beautiful palces I have ever been to, going back in a good months time for another ten days worth of assignment shooting and i can hardly wait.

Add to that that the midnight sun has returned, which really makes for some light that IMHO is to die for, especially if you mix it up with a couple of medium sized icebergs and an approaching storm.
these photos while decent does not even come close to withnessing the massive size of the landscape up here.

From Ilulissat:
Image

Image

Whether any of the above will end up in my clients basket is uncertain, but above two are some of the shots i value the most personally from the trip.

Thanks for looking, comments and critics are always welcome.
Thomas
"Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool"
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Stany Buyle
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Re: Midnight sun and other Greenlandic landscapes

Post by Stany Buyle »

Hi Thomas,

The first picture is gorgeous, the other 3 very nice. Thanks for posting these and your interesting comment.
kindest regards,

Stany
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Vincent De Vos
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Re: Midnight sun and other Greenlandic landscapes

Post by Vincent De Vos »

Goodevening Mr. Thomas,

Fantastic again, after your marvelous photos in a former thread.(http://www.fotografie.fr/fotoforum/view ... f=49&t=287)
Thanks for letting us share the view of this incredible landscape.
Wish you all the best and hope you're going to post more of these kind, I love it.
Whenever you can or want, could you please post some pictures about how people live there? Ho wdo people make a living in that country? The houses, inside and outside?
Hope I don't give the impression of being indiscrete...
Looking foreward to it...
Passioned by beautiful pictures, not a very active photographer though...
Regards,
Vincent

PS I use google translate a lot to write better English. So, if mistake, I's google, not me. ;)
Duplo
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Thanks and on houses...

Post by Duplo »

@Stany:
Thank you for your kind comment, glad you liked them.

@Vincent:
Thank you so much, appreciate your kind words on these.
I will surely be sharing more as things progress and I get through the lot, but my graphics card on the workstation just died on me, so i will need to replace that first:(

I will see what I can do on the cultural side of things, mot my strongest side photography wise.

The inside of the houses are pretty much the same as in the rest of the western world, the outsides are fairly colourful and oddly enough build in wood for the most part:)
Below are some quick images, that shows how things typically looks.

A fairly typical one family house in Nuuk where i live;
Image

A house in the settlement of Kapisillit:
Image

Image

A small settlement called Qoornoq:
Image

Ilulissat:
Image
Thomas
"Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool"
DavidLake
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Hey Thomas...

Post by DavidLake »

Why are all the houses colored. I like it, just can't figure it out. And the first image - the reflection of the ice/snow is worth a frame for sure. :)
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Duplo
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Re: Hey Thomas...

Post by Duplo »

DavidLake wrote:Why are all the houses colored. I like it, just can't figure it out. And the first image - the reflection of the ice/snow is worth a frame for sure. :)
Thank you first of all for your kind comments, I really appreciate them.

Now as to the colours of the houses, well there actually is a historical meaning that to some extend holds true even today.
each colour represents what kind of institution or corporation the registered owner is.

Now for that to make sense it, it should be said that historically most homes were owned by the emplyer and rented to the employee in the past and for a large part it still is that way.
The private "real estate" market is a relatively new thing up here. And even then you are not talking "real estate" as such, as you are unable to buy land, you are able to buy or obtain a permit to build a house of a given size at a given place, but the land itself will never be yours.

So in its own weird way it actually does make sense.
Dark blue = transportation
Dark red = Public institution (home rule government etc.)
Light blue = electric companies etc.
yellow = hospitals etc.

Not sure if it makes sense, but that is the explanation to the colours of the houses :)
Thomas
"Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool"
DavidLake
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Wierd!

Post by DavidLake »

So who owns the land? My house is grey, who would own my home in Greenland? :)
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Duplo
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Re: Wierd!

Post by Duplo »

DavidLake wrote:So who owns the land? My house is grey, who would own my home in Greenland? :)
Nobody does, as it is not land per se, but solid rock. soil is not very common just as trees abd nost flora is non existant... probably why the call it arctic desert :)
Lands is owned by everybody or at least you are free to walk it.

Not sure about a grey house, have not bumped into an explanation of that :)
Thomas
"Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool"
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