Raindrops and Spirits. One of the spirits.

Alaska, architecture, Arts, Black & White, Film, Landscapes, Photography, Portraits, Travel

It’s only four days until my first solo show, I’m excited and busy, but feel it should come together nicely. There are already things I wish I had done differently, but it’s not in my nature to worry, so I’m chalking it up to lack of experience.

As I said previously, my show is to deal heavily with the role of people within place. Even when people take a a large portion of subject matter they are meant to complement the surroundings. Such is the case with today’s image “David in Kennicott,” A large, strong figure in a commanding environment. Also worth noting is location, most of the images are paired, some in multiple ways. This is at the same location as my title piece “Rain Apparition,” Kennicott in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. With pairings the viewer is allowed to view locations with many more meanings; the ability to step back, taking in the scene, then moving in closer for detail.

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David in Kennicott

Combining garbage and pictures.

Alaska, Photography, Street

They say you can tell a lot about someone by looking through their garbage. They also say a picture is worth 1000 words. So this could qualify as 1000 words about people.

Transfer stations are, to my knowledge, uniquely Alaskan. When people live 20 or more miles from town on remote dirt roads waste disposal becomes more challenging. So Alaska has stations set up where people take their refuse. Often these also serve as recycle centers where people look for discarded items they deem valuable. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

This transfer site is located in the community of Two Rivers, about 17 miles North East of Fairbanks on Chena Hot Springs Rd. I’m not trying to say this picture is indicative of the community. What I really love about this frame is the mix of subtle and, well, in your face.

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Two Rivers transfer station

The eye is immediately attracted to the slightly covered profanity. But then the eye is allowed to wonder, taking in a very demolished truck, old TV, animal carrier and fridge complete with mayo and a Mickey’s fine malt liquor. The high mid-day sun helps give the feeling of harshness. Also helping: red, green and blue, the three primary colors, are also the main colors of the picture.

To me, the picture is representative of the presumed racial slur. We don’t know exactly what it means, but we get a pretty good idea.

A first, first Friday. “Raindrops and Spirits.”

Alaska, Arts, Black & White, Film, Landscapes, Photography, Travel

After a few years of persuasion from local photographers, April 6, 2012 I will be holding my first solo show at Frank’s Menswear, downtown Fairbanks, on 2nd Ave. The show, titled “Raindrops and Spirits” will be around 15, 8×10 in. silver-gelatin darkroom prints, taken at various locations around Alaska including Fairbanks, Homer and Kennicott. It’s very exciting to know my work will hang on the walls of a business for a month, and hopefully it will lead many more shows at many venues, as well as a few print sales.

People play an important role in the theme of my show, the absence of people equally important as the inclusion. The title is derived from the following image, which features a blur in the lower left-hand corner. People often ask me what caused it, and I reply with “A raindrop on the lens.” But having a vivid imagination I often like to think it’s something more, in this case the apparition of a forgotten worker from the mine, wandering the grounds he calls home.

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Rain Apparition

Valdez Harbor and Trans-Alaska Pipeline Storage Tanks

Alaska, Black & White, Film, Landscapes, Photography, Travel

While doing some back editing I realized I have a fair amount of work from a few trips to Valdez last summer. Valdez is the northern-most ice free harbor in the U.S. and is home to the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Seen here from across the bay, on a rare sunny day in Valdez, are the storage tanks for the oil that continues to flow through the pipeline 35 years after it was first pumped. According to valdezalaska.org there are 18 crude-oil tanks, each capable of holding 510,000 barrels of crude, for a total of 9.18 million barrels. While not nearly at peak production the pipeline still proves to be a vital portion of Alaska’s economy. Watch where you’re boating, if you enter the restricted area around the storage tanks you can be fined up to $32,500 and lose your boat.

This next image is simply Valdez harbor with mountains in the background.

Lake Washington, panoramic and a spider.

Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

My parents are currently visiting my grandma on the shores of Lake Washington. Since I wasn’t able to make it down on this trip I figured I should post some pictures from last time I was in the area. Maybe they will find their way to my relatives.

Lake Washington and spider

I was only in town for a few days, but caught gorgeous fall weather, allowing me to take this picture of a large orb weaver silhouetted by the setting suns reflection.

Lake Washington panorama

I also took the opportunity to take a panorama. These are very easy to create, simply shoot multiple images, select them all in a viewing application such as Bridge, and choose photo merge. It’s amazing how good the program is at combining images. Unfortunately I didn’t overlap a few images enough and lost a few frames, so overlap significantly.

Fishy Inspiration

Alaska, Arts, Photography, Portraits

Artists find inspiration from many venues. Other art, personal visions, but most often from the world around them. Henry David Thoreau wrote about the trails he frequented, Warhol made designs from unavoidable pop culture and Bradford Washburn photographed the mountains he loved so much. It’s easy to tell where my cousin Iris Sutton gets her inspiration. Her large scale paintings with vivid colors of Alaska landscapes, animals and mushing culture hark to the raw beauty and grandeur of Alaska. A finisher of the Yukon Quest, she was chosen in 2012 to make the poster artwork.

Fish, long a common theme for Alaska art, surfaced in one of her recent paintings. A subject I also look to for inspiration, as well as sustenance. Here is Iris with her painting of salmon hanging, and a picture of salmon hanging before the smoking process.

Everyone dances

Alaska, Arts, Black & White, Photography, Portraits, Wildlife

While down in Anchorage photographing a character study of Sue Perry, a seamstress making costumes for Alaska Dance Theater’s production of Othello, I took some time off to photograph rehearsals. The fluid movements and long extensions often seen in ballet were there, but wonderfully contrasted with sharp, edgy lines and tense, jerky motions showing both internal and external character struggle. I was lucky enough to have my telephoto on when through the window I caught raven making his own graceful movements. I couldn’t find the mythological view of ravens as tricksters, shape shifters and on rare occasions sinister, more fitting while looking at the dancers practice this dark play penned by Shakespeare. Sometimes life shows true serendipity.

Denali at dusk

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography

After one of the coldest winters I can remember, including the 5th coldest January on record, February has started off with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. Needless to say a wonderful change. Not only is it warmer but the light is coming back, making it all around a much more enjoyable place to call home. One can not forget that it is still winter, and temperatures could easily plunge far below zero. Here is a picture I took November 18, 2011, a day we set a record at 41 below zero. The foreground of Fairbanks city lights are back-dropped by Denali, the tallest peak in North America. Cheers to summer.

Denali background and city lights, November 18, 2011.

Alaska Highway Diptych

Alaska, Black & White, Landscapes, Travel

Alaska’s highways are often beautiful. And often terrifying. A diptych is two photos that attempt to tell a more complete story then just one. These two were taken just outside of anchorage on the Glenn Highway in early January, I wanted to capture a classic Alaskan view, and the feeling of impending death that often accompanies winter driving.