In the Bering Sea, Alaska Native Peoples tell their story through photographs

The island of Sivuqaq—also known as St. Lawrence Island—in the northern Bering Sea is home to the Siberian Yupik. In May 2024, WWF partnered with the community of Savoonga to host a week-long participatory photography workshop. We helped participants to grow their photography skills and explore the art of visual storytelling.

The workshop covered a variety of digital camera settings and techniques and worked with the very active schedules of five members of the community amid spring migration season. Walrus, geese, and seabirds like auklets and murres, were traveling by Sivuqaq. People were out on their boats navigating through sea ice every day to hunt for their food and support their families.

Our participants—, Jeri Okbaok, Derek Seppilu Jr., Derek Seppilu Sr., and Miriam Toolie—spent their free time with WWF capturing visuals of their homes, friends and family, the island, and the sea around them. At the end of the week, they shared some of those photos at an open-house exhibit which we’ve digitally replicated below. Please enjoy views of the Arctic through the lenses of people who call it home.