Twenty-four hours in Kullorsuaq, with the last guardians of the pole

Through the eyes of photographer Julien Fabro

Freshly returned from a scouting trip to Kullorsuaq in March 2023, Julien Fabro, who travels around the world with PONANT’s teams, shares his perceptive views of his encounter with Gabriel, Paulus, Adam, Ole and Mattias, some of Greenland’s last remaining traditional hunters. They took him on a 24-hour expedition on the ice pack. An immersive, initiatory experience synonymous with humility and the passing on of knowledge and traditions.

The depart from Kullorsuaq:
“Out there, we don’t play around.”

March, 17th – 6 p.m.

“As we set out on our expedition, the light was particularly beautiful – a suspended moment in time between the golden hour of the setting of the sun and the blue hour, when it slowly slips below the horizon. The warm colours then mix and blend with cool colours such as blue and violet. At this time of year at these high latitudes, the sky only gets dark around midnight. Time seems to stretch out, prolonging the pleasure of contemplating these pastel reflections on the ice. This distinctive and unusual light accompanied us throughout our four-hour journey by dog sled to the site where we would be spending the night on the ice pack.

Gabriel is wearing traditional clothing, but it’s not about playing around out there. He isn’t wearing them for reasons of folklore. These hunters are connected to their environment and have been adapting to the power of the elements for centuries.These clothes are their best allies. Nothing is more effective than bearskins and seal skins for protecting you against extreme temperatures that can drop as low as -30°C.

We’ll be spending the night in one of the areas the Greenlandic Inuit refer to as ‘Nunanutaat‘ (unknown lands). They explained to us that these new expanses of water or land revealed as the glaciers recede are protected by spirits. These spaces arouse not only a sense of fear in them, but also a considerable amount of curiosity. This mystical relationship is a reflection of both the wisdom and the caution they display when faced with these unknown spaces they are learning to explore.”

A night on the ice pack

March, 17th– 11 p.m.

“We slept on bear skins on two sledges side by side, protected by a canvas stretched out on the long spears they use to probe the ice. I was captivated by their precise, swift and perfectly timed movements as they set up the temporary overnight camp on the ice floe. No time to lose if you want to avoid being bitten by the cold. Every little detail counts. Their effectiveness reminded me of the extent to which their knowledge stems from age-old traditions handed down from generation to generation.

The little stove set up in the tent, around which we dried our things and spent time chatting, took me back to memories of my own family: I immediately thought back to my grandfather’s paraffin lamp.

As for the grilled seal meat they offered us for dinner… It was delicious! I wasn’t expecting the flavour it had, which is reminiscent of barbecued salmon.

Usually, when they set off to spend several days on the ice pack, they just take the bare minimum with them, with no provisions. They eat only what they can catch by fishing or hunting. On this occasion, the meal had been planned in advance, as we were not used to dealing with the cold on an empty stomach.”

A night on the ice pack

March, 17th– 11 p.m.

“We slept on bear skins on two sledges side by side, protected by a canvas stretched out on the long spears they use to probe the ice. I was captivated by their precise, swift and perfectly timed movements as they set up the temporary overnight camp on the ice floe. No time to lose if you want to avoid being bitten by the cold. Every little detail counts. Their effectiveness reminded me of the extent to which their knowledge stems from age-old traditions handed down from generation to generation.

The little stove set up in the tent, around which we dried our things and spent time chatting, took me back to memories of my own family: I immediately thought back to my grandfather’s paraffin lamp.

As for the grilled seal meat they offered us for dinner… It was delicious! I wasn’t expecting the flavour it had, which is reminiscent of barbecued salmon.

Usually, when they set off to spend several days on the ice pack, they just take the bare minimum with them, with no provisions. They eat only what they can catch by fishing or hunting. On this occasion, the meal had been planned in advance, as we were not used to dealing with the cold on an empty stomach.”

Early morning: Ole’s smile

March, 18th – 7 a.m.

“You might think that the Inuit are tough and not very communicative, but in reality they laugh and joke a lot and are very outgoing. Ole comes over to us with a big smile in the early hours of the morning to check our pulses, find out how our night on the ice pack went, and make sure we’re enjoying the experience they wanted to share with us.

Though it was a chilly night – despite our equipment designed to withstand the coldest temperatures – I returned the same big smile. I would like to express my gratitude to him and his hunter friends for agreeing to take us on this adventure, an experience of such great value for understanding their way of life.

I felt 100% confident that night, watching the mastery these men have over their environment. Though bears could have approached during the night, with fifty or so dogs on guard I was calm and relaxed.”

Senses awakened: in the shoes of a musher

March, 18th – 10 a.m.

“I put my camera in slow-shutter-speed mode to get the effect of movement on the snow, which is what really makes and defines this photo. I wanted to convey the sensation of gliding. The team of 15 dogs is traveling at around 15 km/h. The whip is floating in the wind. Adam is steering his dogs: “Ililililili” to go right and “Yukyukyukyuk” to go left.

I was fascinated by the way he communicated with them. The sense of immersion was visual, auditory and olfactory, as the dogs gave off a very strong odour. All senses were fully awake and alert. The language barrier disappeared when I asked Adam, using simple gestures, if I could try steering the dogs myself. I could sense his astonishment and pride as I attempted to reproduce his high-pitched cries. I was filled with a sense of plenitude and fulfilment at the controls of this ice vehicle.”

Charting your own course in the icy vastness

March, 18th – Midday

“When I took this photo, I wasn’t aware what time it was, or what day it was. I’d lost all my bearings. I felt completely outside of time. In this white immensity, there were no other tracks or traces but our own. “

Cuddle break for the men and their dogs

March, 18th – 4 p.m.

“During the break, the hunters take care of their dogs, which they love deeply, even if they are very demanding with them when driving them. The five teams were gathered near an iceberg trapped in the pack ice, far enough apart not to mix with each other. We melted snow in a container on the stove so we could drink tea and have a little soup, and we ate some sweets.

We were freezing. The hunters have some amazing techniques for getting themselves warm again when they’re cold: tickling fights and mock brawls. I put my camera down and joined in the fun with them. The aim is to knock the other person to the ground.”

Family portrait

March, 18th – 4 p.m.

“Mattias is the most respected of the hunters. He’s the boss. Though he speaks the least, nothing is done without his agreement. He’s short, lean and quite old. He doesn’t look like much when you first meet him, but once he’s out on the ice, he’s a superman, just like all these hunters.

This photo may look simple and ordinary at first, but when you put it into perspective, it’s almost like a family photo. Mattias is sitting at the centre of the picture with his dogs, who obey him. He is posing proudly with them. You can see how important they are to him. They’re part of him. There is a notion of heritage. These men are the guardians of the last bastion of traditional Greenlandic hunters. There is a sense of something animal from it, an incredible kind of power.”

The aurora borealis in the sky over Kullorsuaq

March, 18th – Midnight

“Once back in Kullorsuaq, I went out shortly before midnight, just after it had got dark. I walked through the village streets and headed out onto the ice floe opposite the village. I set my tripod up and put my camera on a long exposure to capture as much light as possible. You can therefore see the colours of the northern lights in the photo, which were not visible to the naked eye. I set the self-timer to give myself time to position myself in my chosen frame. The halo of light emitted by my phone adds depth to the image. With this framing and composition, I wanted to tell a story, the story of an explorer exploring this village at night.”

Alone on the ice

March, 19th – 5 a.m.

“It was a short night. We set off towards the heights of the village well before sunrise in the company of Nicolas Dubreuil, a French polar explorer specialising in Greenland, co-founder of SEDNA, who lives in Kullorsuaq for part of the year and who opened the doors of this world of ice to us. We then headed back down to the ice pack. I followed in his footsteps and let him go on ahead alone, illuminated by the incredible light that added a sublime touch to this smooth desert-like expanse. Under our feet was a metre of ice, and the depths of the Baffin Sea.

Nicolas is a storyteller. It was only his energy, determination and ability to establish a connection between ourselves and these hunters, who wanted to share their daily lives with visiting travellers, that made this extraordinary adventure possible.”

Photo credits: ©PONANT/Julien Fabro