Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

KyleWith: Photojournalist Pat Kane

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Pat Kane is an Editorial Photographer for the Yellowknife based UpHere Magazine and has been for the last 6 years. He tells me he comes from an artsy family, but it wasn’t until in college that he really got into photography. He was in college to become a reporter with the hope of writing for a magazine when his interest in photography came about.

Pat Kane Photo

After getting an internship with a Sports Photography company and later taking a job with them, Pat moved up to Yellowknife to work with UpHere Magazine and now has seen most of the Arctic. Depending on the assignment, Pat has gone to different communities to document the people and the culture. He calls him self a generalist photographer, but that hasn’t stopped him from producing great photos, and says his favourite type of photography is probably editorial portraits.

Recently Pat is working on a project with Yellowknife filmmaker Jay Bulckaert. It is a documentary and photo essay on the famous Range Street which is located in Yellowknife. They plan on showcasing the Photos and Film for everyone to once they complete the project.

Other links from the show:

Be sure to check out his website and like his page on Facebook.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to Subscribe on iTunes or by Email here.

Don’t forget if you know someone doing something interesting (or another photographer or yourself) send me their info, I want to talk to them!

My mind is in Yellowknife

Many times I have thought about what to say when I sat down to write these thoughts. I’m not one to show a lot of emotion, but a person can only take so much bad news in a short period of time.

The North is my home and always will be, no one will ever be able to take that away from me. So many things make it my home, the land, the industry and the people. No matter who you are in Yellowknife, chances are you have been effected by the series of accidents that have happened over the last two months.

I have the utmost respect for those pilots who fly the northern skies. I look up to them. Since the age of 7 years old I have been flying in bush planes, I loved it. It was like nothing else. To be able to fly in a small aircraft while circling around a herd of caribou or musk-ox is a surreal experience, one that I would never trade. I suppose that is why it hurts to hear the news of these accidents, while i was flying around the north I don’t remember any major accidents like these ones. It seems like something isn’t right and I can’t figure it out.

It is tough to talk about these accidents, because I haven’t lost anyone that is extremely close to me, but have known those who have. They are good people, people I look up to, I just can’t bare to think how tough these times are for them. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Yellowknife is a great place, no matter the what happens this community comes together and is strong. Those who we have lost will never be forgotten, they will inspire us.

The worst part for me is not being there and sharing the memories. Just like Dorothy says “There is no place like home” no matter the situation.

So as I mentioned in the first line I wasn’t sure how to write this, I’m still not really sure how to feel. I hope I was able to layout my thoughts. I also hope those who were affected, by any of the accidents, know that they have an entire community behind them and then all of us expats.

In Memory (2011)

 

Social Media and a Yellowknife Tragedy

I can honestly say I feel sick and I’m in shock once again that this has happened to the community I so deeply love. A Twin Otter belonging to a local charter company crashed onto a street (the main street) in Old Town, Yellowknife around 1pm MST this afternoon. I sat down at my computer after lunch and just got engulfed into it. My thoughts go out to everyone affected and this point where we don’t know who might have been on the plane is the worst.

Social Media once again played a huge roll in spreading news (and rumours unfortunately) of this event. It was how I was able to keep up with everything happen, without being there. I want to talk more about how Social Media has impacted this event, but first I want to share with you two charts, then in another post I may go deeper into it.

The first chart we have below is of the Twitter activity of the hashtag #yzf, which is the local Yellowknife tag, from 1pm – 4pm. As you can see the first climb is all the local chatter happening about the event. Then at 2pm (where the orange line is) it was picked up by National news as the word spread.

YZF Hashtag

We then have the keyword or hashtag of Yellowknife. Many people don’t know that #yzf is used as the local tag just use Yellowknife and it being the name of the community it is used in headlines and such. As you can see chatter started happen when the event happened, but no official news was out quite yet, but then at 2pm it his National at which point CBC North already had their story up.

Yellowknife Hashtag

If you’d like to read the story just search “Yellowknife Float Place Crash.”  It is another sad day.

KyleWith: Alexander Legaree

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Click here to download or listen on an iOS Device

World on Fire (2011).
Coal Photography

Coal Photography first came to my attention just after he was up in Kugluktuk taking photos with Dave Brosha. Since then I have been glued to the photos the man behind the name, Alexander Legaree, has produced. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to get him on the line and talk about his photography.

Alexander calls the NWT home and has for many years, but not only that, he calls it his inspiration for photography. Ever since the age of 4, Alexander his been into photography, but it really became a passion when he was living in Sweden in 2003. He says “I haven’t looked back since” and his photos show that. Alexander also shares with me he favourite genre of photography, who inspires him and what he is up to next, all in the show.

I highly recommend everyone check out his website and like his page on Facebook.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to Subscribe on iTunes or by Email here.

Don’t forget if you know someone doing something interesting (or another photographer or yourself) send me their info, I want to talk to them!

City of Yellowknife should embrace Facebook

I have not yet actually read the article that the Yellowknifer has written about the City of Yellowknife having a study done about whether they should get into social media or not. I don’t even know if that’s actually what it’s about. I’m assuming this study says something like they should look into finally getting on Facebook and creating the City an official Page. I could be wrong though.

I am very thrilled to hear this news, if that is the case, it is a very positive thing. I feel the City of Yellowknife needs to do more two-way conversations with its residence, other than just public meetings. Facebook is now one of the best ways to connect with people.

That being said we have to remember that social media can be a double-edged sword for those who are prepared. As great as it is to reach out to the community; to get their feedback and keep them informed, there’ll also be complainers. I know this first hand having spoken to some of the people taking care of the City of Fort St. John’s page. A lot of residents use it as an outlet to complain. That is why I run around saying a good strategy–social media strategy–is an absolute must.

But creating this strategy is not just a walk in the park. Ask any person who actually works as a social media marketer how difficult it is; it has to be taken seriously. I don’t say this because I am a person who helps organizations and businesses create these strategies, but I say this as someone who wants to see these organizations and businesses succeed.

Someone who’s familiar with this type of work should be used to help create one of these documents.  Goals, weaknesses, benefits, best practices and so on should all be pointed out in one of these documents. It should not only outline what wants to be achieved, but also protect whoever is creating the document for everyone’s sake.

I’m not sure how far along the City of Yellowknife is in getting on Facebook, but I look forward to seeing them there. I’m also curious to know what other people think. What do you want to see from them if they did join Facebook?

City of Yellowknife Website