An interest in social justice led Amber Bracken to start photographing the indigenous communities of Alberta, her home province in Canada. She came to see that the history of colonization was a common thread tying together issues experienced by indigenous people, a realization which in turn led Bracken to explore her own family’s settlement on land that once belonged to Native people. When she first heard about people camping in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline—a project designed to transport oil produced by fracking the Bakken shale in North Dakota––she thought at first it was another unremarkable protest. But as hundreds of tribes began gathering from around North America, she recognized the camp as a significant development in Native American history and made four trips there in the next six months. Her work aims to show the struggle for land rights and sovereignty that have long governed the plight for freedom for these communities.
Special Thanks
The Lightning Family in Maskwacis, Alberta
Staci Pierson / ICP
This film was made possible with the generous support of Harbers Studios.
Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.
This year MediaStorm produced films for the following winners: Lifetime Achievement: Bruce Davidson; Applied: Alexandra Bell; Art: Samuel Fosso; Artist's Book: Dayanita Singh, Museum Bhavan; Critical Writing and Research: Maurice Berger, Race Stories column for the Lens section of the New York Times; Documentary and Photojournalism: Amber Bracken; and Emerging Photographer: Natalie Keyssar; and for Online Platform and New Media: Women Photograph.
An interest in social justice led Amber Bracken to start photographing the indigenous communities of Alberta, her home province in Canada. She came to see that the history of colonization was a common thread tying together issues experienced by indigenous people, a realization which in turn led Bracken to explore her own family’s settlement on land that once belonged to Native people. When she first heard about people camping in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline—a project designed to transport oil produced by fracking the Bakken shale in North Dakota––she thought at first it was another unremarkable protest. But as hundreds of tribes began gathering from around North America, she recognized the camp as a significant development in Native American history and made four trips there in the next six months. Her work aims to show the struggle for land rights and sovereignty that have long governed the plight for freedom for these communities.
Amber's being honored by ICP for her work at the Standing Rock camp, an event that had concluded by the time we came to make the film. The camp is gone, the site is buried under snow, and it's a 15-hour drive from Amber's location. How do we capture her in relevant action?
Why does Amber's Standing Rock work stand out, when so many photographers were there as well? It's thoughtful. And that's because it's related to her ongoing project about indigenous people in Alberta, Canada. That work helped her recognize the importance of hundreds of tribes gathering at Standing Rock. Framing her Standing Rock images in this wider work gave us reason to shoot her in action in Canada.
The film premiered on April 9, 2018 at the ICP Infinity Awards Gala in New York City. The film was a special feature of the evening, and a critical fundraising tool.
This film was a collaboration with Harbers Studio and the International Center of Photography.
Harbers Studios turbocharges the efforts of charitable entrepreneurs by helping them tell their stories. Our goal is to help them articulate and share the value of the work they do so they can inspire others to help them do it. Working with some of the best filmmaking talent in the world, Harbers Studios creates compelling visual narratives that enhance the endeavors of organizations working to make the world a better place.
The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to the practice and understanding of photography and the reproduced image in all its forms. Through exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach, ICP offers an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since ICP’s founding, they have presented more than 500 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. ICP is a center where photographers and artists, students and scholars can create and interpret the world of the image within our comprehensive educational facilities and archive.
As a privately funded nonprofit arts and education organization, ICP depends in large part on friends such as you for support. Your generosity is vital to ICP as it continues to grow and succeed in its mission: to present photography's extraordinary power to the public.
There are many ways to give to ICP: Donate to the Annual Fund, create a scholarship, sponsor exhibitions and education programs, contribute to the Collection, or make a planned gift.
Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.
Harbers Studios commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to display online. The films pay tribute to the contributions of each artist to the craft and field of photography and demonstrate ICP's commitment to them.