A series mapping the relationship between Greeland’s ice sheet and the intricate tapestry of life it sustains by American photographer Daniel Dorsa. Dorsa’s work often explores the relationships between people and the environments they inhabit. In “To Skip a Sinking Stone” Dorsa captures a landscape quietly working to reclaim itself. Greenland is a territory often presumed to be a desolate expanse of ice, especially to those in the United States. This projects seeks to demonstrate how the land is an organism in its own right and the significant influence the ice sheet exerts over its immediate surroundings. “As the ice retreats”, Dorsa notes, “not only does the environment shift, but so does the geopolitical landscape, as global powers vie for access and influence”. While he began documenting a group of scientists working under S.I.L.A. (Significance of Ice-Loss to Landscapes in the Arctic), Dorsa’s own reflections have expanded to encompass the impact of climate change and how macro forces shape the micro realities of daily life:

“In Greenland, where extremes shape both land and life, joy continues to surface even in the presence of uncertainty. The title recognizes that climate change may feel like an unavoidable reality, yet people still reach for moments of light, connection, and meaning. I see hope not as a promise of control, but as a way of choosing how to live while the world shifts around us. The irony of a situation where the ice melt is also the undoing of ourselves, leaving us to inhabit a world altered by our own hand and to navigate the uncertain reality that follows. Greenland exists as both subject and symbol, an embodiment of how nature, culture, and time are interwoven. This is not only a story of ice melting, but a reminder that the forces shaping our world are often invisible, persistent, and intimately connected.”

Daniel Dorsa submitted this project through the submissions section of our website. It’s free to join the Booooooom Community and share your work with us!