2025 FESTIVAL

The 2025 Far North Photo Festival will take place Feb 28th-March 3rd in Yellowknife! We’re excited to announce that the OF THE NORTH exhibit will be held at the Snowcastle, as part of the 30th Snowking’s Winter Festival!

This year, we will have 4 world renowned speakers joining us, each working at the top of their profession in photography, publishing and more.

Please follow along on our Facebook page for info about all our events and workshops.

Below is our Festival schedule at a glance and the bios of our Keynote Mentors. Look forward to seeing you there!

Our Keynote Mentors

Kiliii Yuyan - Photographer Kiliii Yuyan is best known for his joyful grin. He has reasons to be thankful. He's survived a hunting polar bear and charmed sea snakes. 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 human perspectives.

From his Chinese and Nanai/Hézhè (Asian Indigenous) ancestry, Kiliii was driven to be curious about the natural world. For two decades he built and paddled traditional kayaks, immersing himself in the practice of his ancestors. Today, he is a photographer committed to telling stories that help humanity understand itself and its relationship to mother earth.

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.

Prior to her role as Regional Lead, Zook held several different positions at National Geographic, including managing the Emerging Explorer Program (now Wayfinder Awards), curating the Explorers Symposium (now Explorers Festival), and directing the Explorer Programs team. She also spent three years as a member of the staff-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Steering Committee and worked within her different roles to highlight diverse voices and provide opportunities for scientists, conservationists, storytellers and educators from around the globe.

Before taking a position on staff at National Geographic, Zook worked as a documentary film producer, creating programming for PBS, the National Geographic Channel, Discovery Studios, and non-profit groups. She holds a BA in English and is a lifelong learner. 

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.

Aside from NGS, Sana is a trained multimedia journalist with over a decade experience in creating and producing visual content. She is mostly known for her ongoing project, Places You'll Pray: a community engagement photo series of Muslims praying in locations outside of a mosque or designated prayer area(s).

Sana Ullah received a Bachelor of Science in digital media studies from Florida International University's School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Miami, Fla. and a Master of Arts in new media photojournalism from the George Washington University's Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C. 

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 recognition includes 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.

Workshop Schedule