Luke Stackpoole

This image is a photo of a Greenlandic sled dog with two of its young puppies, taken in the winter of 2020 in a small town in the West of Greenland called Ilulissat.

The mother sled dog is sheltering the young puppies from the freezing cold blizzard as the temperatures were as low as -35 Celsius.

The reason why I chose this image to signify kindness is because it is a real testament to the motherly instinct found within all species especially in the harshest of conditions. You can see from this photo just how much the mother cares for her young and from being there in person you could see that she was incredibly protective of her puppies.

My best piece of advice for photographers to express kindness in their images is to always have their camera handy and close by because then they are best equipped to capture any moment such as those of kindness which are often fleeting, raw moments which are difficult to capture unless you’re prepared. I’d also recommend experiencing nature and trying to get into the wilderness as much as possible so that you can see kindness expressed by animals and not just humans.

Another way for a photographer to express kindness is to offer their own insights and support to photographers who are learning or who have questions.  I always make sure to respond to enquiries for people asking for advice because other photographers did the same to me when I was starting out and it’s the small acts of kindness that allow creatives to grow both professionally and personally.

Luke.