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Keepers of the Ocean by Inuuteq Storch, a personal exploration of intimacy with and within the overwhelming nature of west Greenland. The book portrays the close community of Storch’s hometown Sisimiut photographed over the past three years.

Everyday images of friends, family, food and interiors form part of the subject matter combined with Storch’s own intervention and experimentation. Unstaged yet absorbing, intimate and vulnerable. His intuitive narrative style draws the viewer into the image, giving us the feeling of being present ourselves. A rare sight when it comes to portrayals of Greenland – exceptional, meaty and sorely needed.

The landscape is a recurrent subject, as is the sky, the light and the dark. The natural world is always close by, and just as the tides come and go, nature flows in and out of Keepers of the Ocean. In a culture where the weather and the ocean have always played a key role, it is natural for someone who lives by the coast to look out for whoever is at sea. People take care of and watch over each other. When asked about the book’s title, Innuteq replied with a picture of a sunny ocean view from his apartment in Sisimiut, captioned: “Keeping an eye on every sailor”. – From the preface by Martin Brandt Hansen

Inuuteq Storch (b. 1989) lives and works in Greenland. He is a graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York and of Fatamorgana school of photography in Copenhagen. He has exhibited in Greenland, Denmark, The United States, Norway, and Colombia, and has published the photobooks Porcelain Souls (2018, Konnotation), Flesh (2019, Disko Bay) and John Møller – Mirrored, Portraits of Good Hope (2021, Roulette Russe)