On the cover: The story behind the photo

Arlo Clarkson’s beautiful photograph of Horn Lake was a winner in the 2017 NWT Youth Water Stewardship Photo Contest, and we are thrilled to share it on Mackenzie DataStream’s homepage! Water Program Coordinator, Aislin Livingstone, from The Gordon Foundation, caught up with Arlo to learn more about the story behind the photo. 

Could you tell us a bit about the photo you took?

Yeah so that photo was taken at Horn Lake. Horn Lake’s been a spot that me and my family have travelled to every summer. I don’t think there’s been a summer yet that I’ve missed it since I can remember, since I was about four or so. 

Me and my brothers will spend about a week there and my parents will spend a little bit longer. And we go there just to get out of town. We’ll go and my dad will have his hunting license and we’ll get two caribou – if we’re lucky. It all depends on the herd and how close they get because we’re just on foot, we don’t have any four wheelers or anything like that to assist us. The other big thing about going there is we do a lot of berry picking and it really depends on the year. Some years blueberries are great, cranberries are great, but it really depends. 

How did you get into photography?

Well I’ve had a higher-grade camera since my high school graduation in 2017. Getting to use that camera at Horn Lake was kind of the first big scene where I could see what it’s capable of. So I had a few lenses … I actually did a summer video that I edited and put together. And half the clips are from Horn Lake and half the clips are from just in town in Inuvik with friends and stuff like that. 

It’s not something I see myself going to school and making a career of, but I do like it as a hobby. And same with my dad as well, he enjoys photography and once he retires he’ll be looking to do more and more of that. It interests both of us because it’s always nice to get some pictures out on the land. 

What is your connection to the water where you live?

In the winter water is everything. The frozen river is everything. It gets us access to our cabin and we go outside, go have fun on the snowmobiles, go sliding, go tubing. But in the summer, Horn Lake, it’s always just been the go-to spot in the summer.