Regarding using a photo of an Inukshuk (indigenous stone cairn) on an album cover
I am browsing photos for use on an instrumental (no lyrics) jazz type album I am making, and I found a fantastic photo of an Inukshuk with northern lights in the background that was taken in Saskatchewan.
My question is if there would be a problem using the photo in the context I want to use it. I cannot claim connection to any Canadian First nation heritage/culture, certainly not Inuit in any form. I am not from Canada, I am of European descent from Minnesota and did not make the album with Inukshuk/Inuit culture in mind. As I said, It’s just instrumental jazz music.
That all being said, for me, the photo and the spritual meaning and contexts of an Inukshuk is amazing and something I would love to have on the cover as the way it looks resonates with me; that is to say I think it visually pairs well with the music, however vague and ambiguous the pairing might be. However I totally understand it’s not something I have the right to represent, or it could be taken as cultural appropriation, and I want to avoid that. But I just think it looks really cool.
Thoughts? Totally fine for me to find another picture, but this picture would be an immediate choice for me if it didn’t have potential to be taken negatively, which I don’t mean at all.