The Party

Inkjet print on cotton fibre.

30x23.50x1"

Limited edition 1 of 10.

I had gone inside for the fish.

It was Christmas on Yellowknife Bay, part of Great Slave Lake, and someone had erected a teepee on the ice with a bonfire burning in the middle and fresh fried fish served on Pogo sticks — fish pulled directly from the lake beneath their feet. Yellowknifers had simply gathered there, the way people in the north gather — without much fuss, with great warmth. It was the best Christmas party I had ever been to.

When I came back outside, the Aurora was waiting.

I had brought guests from Asia who were staying with us through AirBnb. They had arrived in Yellowknife without proper winter clothing — somehow convinced they would manage. I took one look at them at the door and said: “You’re going to die.” We lent them everything we had. There they are in the photograph, I think, standing on the ice in borrowed parkas watching the northern lights sweep over the bay.

The Aurora seemed to be pointing directly at the party. Maybe it was.

Part of my Life in the Knife series, Yellowknife Bay, Northwest Territories. New Year’s Eve, 2016.