For more than three decades, Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson (RAX) has documented the life of Hjelmer Hammeken, an Inuit hunter from Ittoqqortoormiit in East Greenland. Since their first meeting in 1993, Axelsson has returned repeatedly, accompanying Hammeken on hunting expeditions across the sea ice and photographing his family and the wider community. Their friendship, and the trust built through years of shared experience, give these photographs their intimacy. Bringing together 137 black-and-white photographs across 288 pages, Hunter from Ittoqqortoormiit offers a portrait of Hammeken and the community to which he belongs. The photographs follow hunters and their sled dogs across the frozen fjords and document daily life in the settlements. They reveal the knowledge, patience and skill needed to read the ice, follow the animals and live in an environment shaped by the Arctic seasons. Over the years, Axelsson has also witnessed the conditions of this life change. Increasingly unpredictable sea ice, alongside social and economic pressures, is making it harder to sustain hunting traditions passed down through generations. Through Hammeken and the people around him, the book records how these changes are felt in a community whose daily life and identity remain closely connected to hunting. The publication continues Axelsson's longstanding commitment to documenting the people and landscapes of the Arctic. It is accompanied by the feature documentary Hunter from Greenland, directed by Oskar Pall Sveinsson and produced by Qerndu, scheduled for release in December 2027.
