Flying into Ilulissat, I’m already blown away. The water is scattered with drifting ice floes, the land below is barren and wild. It feels like I’m landing on another planet. Nuuk’s airport has just one runway, and after we touch down, everyone just walks across the tarmac into the terminal. It’s one of the smallest airports I’ve ever seen.
The local Indigenous people are Inuit, descended from the Thule culture that migrated here from Alaska around a thousand years ago. Some have traditional facial tattoos—beautiful and symbolic, though I’m not sure exactly what each one means. Every baby I see has ridiculously chubby cheeks and these wide, curious eyes. Completely adorable.
Ilulissat, which means “icebergs” in Kalaallisut, sits about 350 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and has a population of just over 5,000. This place has been inhabited for thousands of years—the Saqqaq people were here long before the Inuit, leaving traces of their lives going back over 4,000 years.
I meet our photography guides: Vincenzo from Italy and Raymond from Germany. They both live in Iceland now and know this landscape like locals.
We set off on our first shoot aboard the sailboats Aurora and Alyonka, with a Russian crew from Rusarc. Conditions are perfect—calm water, glowing icebergs, and a few whale sightings. The Arctic sky puts on a show. We shoot for five straight hours in soft golden light, chasing reflections and movement. It never gets dark. By the time we’re back at the hotel at 3 a.m., I’m totally fried. I pass out hard and wake up not knowing where I am for a moment.
Violet, my roommate who’s originally from Russia, shows me her drone footage—two humpbacks surfacing between slabs of ice. It’s unreal. I can’t wait to go through my own shots.
Meanwhile, Vincenzo keeps things entertaining on the boat. “Masha! Slow down! Masha, stop turning! Left, Masha! Left!” He sounds like a grumpy Italian traffic cop. Poor Masha, our captain, stays calm while he micromanages every turn. Later he tells us, “The crew hates me… but they also love me.”
He’s full of these classic one-liners: “You must move to take photos!” and “Do you have a wide lens? Use it!” Then he peers over your shoulder mid-shoot: “It’s underexposed… again.” He’s not being mean—just blunt, passionate, and hilarious. Honestly, I kind of love it.
Big thank you to Violet for sharing her drone photos and video❤️. @violetslens
