20/20: NORTH

A monumental photographic record of a world undergoing irreversible change.

A three-year Arctic-> Alps expedition.

A permanent cultural archive.

A complete archival package to be submitted to UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme for consideration for inclusion.

20/20: NORTH is an independently authored, art-led photographic and archival undertaking documenting the North and alpine headwaters: glaciers, ecosystems, Indigenous stewardship, human communities and the industrial systems shaping their future.

Built through sustained field immersion, monumental stitched medium-format photography and dignified portraiture, the project brings these connected worlds into view at a scale that demands attention.

The purpose is to compel people to look, engage and pay attention—and to create an enduring record before what exists becomes only a memory.

The work. The record. The permanence.

20/20: NORTH is being built as one coherent body of work: photographic masters, physical artifacts, contextual records and public presentation, engineered together for long-term preservation and institutional stewardship.

The finished work will include:

• A distributed ten-location printed exhibition archive: monumental photographic works giving the record physical scale and public presence.
• An editioned, sumo-sized photographic book: a monumental, finished cultural artifact.
• A archival-grade digital archive: photographic masters, provenance, metadata and contextual material prepared for donation to national archives and UNESCO, subject to recipient acceptance.
• The complete archival package: prepared for submission to UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme for consideration for inclusion.

Permanence is being engineered into the work itself. From capture and archival production to custom-made Zarges cases housing the physical artifacts—including the book—the project is being built for preservation over the longest practicable horizon.

UNESCO Memory of the World consideration is a central purpose of that undertaking. Submission is a defined project commitment; inclusion is determined through the programme’s review and selection process.

The expedition

Phase I is a defined, three-year production programme connecting the North, the Arctic and European alpine headwaters.

The planned geographic arc begins in Vancouver, travels north through British Columbia and Yukon, continues through Arctic Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard and Norway, and finishes in the European Alps at Chamonix.

A purpose-built remote-field-production platform supports sustained presence, photographic production and daily archive management. The route responds to seasons, access, local relationships and field conditions.

This is not a sequence of brief photographic visits. Depth, continuity and time in place are fundamental to the work.

Four interlocking layers

The project documents a connected world—not the ice in isolation.

• Ice and water
• Glaciers, ice fields, snowpack, headwaters and meltwater—the systems connecting mountain and polar environments to life downstream.
• Animals
• Wildlife and migration systems bound to changing ice, water, habitats and climates.
• Human communities
• Indigenous knowledge holders and stewards, workers, families, scientists and others living with and responding to change.
• Industrial and policy edges
• Ports, roads, vessels, energy infrastructure and the decisions shaping these landscapes.

Together, these layers preserve more than appearances. They document the relationships, knowledge, livelihoods and choices that give a place its meaning.

A world-class team built for the undertaking

Andrew Wilz, MBA — Founder, Creative Director and Expedition Lead

Internationally recognized photographer and creative director; former World Cup snowboard and ski athlete; Strategy MBA; recognized in Lürzer’s Archive’s “200 Best” photography and digital-art editions.

The project brings together specialist expertise across climate research, expedition operations, medicine, public art and institutional engagement:

• Julienne Stroeve, PhD — Research Professor, NSIDC; Manitoba 150 Chair; climate and Arctic research.
• Kristina Reed, MD — Medical and surgical direction.
• Matteo Calcamuggi — IFMGA mountain guide; Arctic and alpine field operations.
• Rob McSkimming — Former SVP, International Business Development, Whistler.
• Dave Birkenfield — Retired U.S. Navy special operations; Arctic operations and field support.
• Tim Sack — Executive Director, Buckhorn Public Arts.
• Ron Hallman — President & CEO, Parks Canada, retired.

The undertaking extends approximately fifteen years of Andrew’s archival photographic practice and development of a remote-field-production platform.

A permanent record. A public purpose.

The archive is the enduring record. The book and monumental printed works give it physical form. Exhibitions, education and public presentation bring people into direct engagement with it.

The work is grounded in consent, accurate context and respect for community knowledge and cultural authority. Institutional use and public access will be structured to preserve those responsibilities alongside the integrity of the archive.

20/20: NORTH exists to make transformation impossible to overlook—and to ensure that what is documented can endure beyond the conditions in which it was made.

Help bring the work into being.

We are bringing together lead underwriters, production partners and institutions to enable the three-year expedition, complete the archival package and bring the finished work into public view.

For the project overview, Phase I scope and partnership discussions:

Andrew Wilz, MBA

Founder / Creative Director / Expedition Lead

andrew@wilzfoto.com

+1.970.274.1819

*The documentation window is closing. 20/20: NORTH is designed to create a primary record while these landscapes, systems and relationships can still be documented directly.

'...maybe, We'll finally change...With a lesson'. - Seal