2025 FESTIVAL

The opening of the 2025 Far North Photo Festival took place Feb 28th-March 3rd in Yellowknife! Our biennial OF THE NORTH exhibit was held at the Snowcastle, as part of the 30th Snowking’s Winter Festival.

In 2025 we welcomed 4 world renowned guests, each working at the top of their profession in photography, publishing and more.

Please follow along on our Facebook page for info about our next festival in 2027. Thank you for all the support!

Festival Photos by Michael Aide

Our Keynote Mentors

Photographer Kiliii Yuyan is best known for his joyful grin. He has reasons to be thankful. He's found community at the edges of the world. But perhaps it is easiest to say that Kiliii is a storyteller who seeks to understand the world from many hu

Kiliii Yuyan - From his Chinese and Nanai/Hézhè (Asian Indigenous) ancestry, Kiliii was driven to be curious about the natural world. In 2023, Kiliii received one of National Geographic's top honors, the Eliza Scidmore Award for Outstanding Storytelling, and was named one of PDN's top 30 photographers in 2019. He contributes to publications including TIME, Vogue, WIRED, and has been honored by awards including Pictures of the Year International, Leica Oscar-Barnack, PDN and ASMP. Kiliii is currently on speaking tour in 2024 with National Geographic Live. He is based out of traditional Duwamish lands (Seattle), but usually found beneath the sea or floating on Arctic ice.

Cheryl Zook - As Regional Lead for the National Geographic Explorer community across Northern North America, Zook is a point of contact for Explorers in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean Islands, supporting opportunities to share their work, build skills, connect, and collaborate. She works with various teams across the Society to identify, recruit and elevate a diverse community of Explorers and to connect with networks and institutions across the region.

Sana Ullah (she/her) - is a Senior Program Officer at the National Geographic Society (NGS) in Washington, D.C. where she works closely with the Storytelling Grants Program and helps manage projects by NGS Explorers. Sana reviews an average of 300-500 grant applications per year and often hosts internal and external grant writing workshops. She also provides 1:1 support and mentorship to emerging storytellers.

Amber Bracken - Amber’s photographs and writing appear in many publications including National Geographic, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Narwhal, and The Wall Street Journal. She reports broadly but often explores intersections of race, environment, culture and colonization. Amber is a double World Press winner—in 2017 and in 2022, when she won photo of the year. Other recognitions include the Canadian Association of Journalists' Charles Bury Award, for contributions to coverage of Indigenous stories, the ICP Infinity Award career recognition, and the Pen Canada Ken Filkow Prize for advancing freedom of expression.