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A blog by Bill Hess

Running Dog Publications

P.O. Box 872383 Wasilla, Alaska 99687

 

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Wasilla

Wasilla is the place where I have lived for the past 29 years - sort of. The house in which my wife and I raised our family sits here, but I have made my rather odd career as a different sort of photojournalist by continually wandering off to other places to photograph people and gather information, which I have then put together in various publications that have served the Alaska Native Eskimo, Indian and Aleut communities.

Although I did not have a great of free time to devote to this rather strange community, named after a Tanaina Athabascan Indian chief who knew Wasilla in the way that I so impossibly long to, I have still documented it regularly over the past quarter-century plus. In the early days, my Wasilla photographs focused mostly upon my children and the events they participated in - baseball, football, figure skating, hockey, frog catching, fire cracker detonation, Fourth of July parade - that sort of thing. 

In 2002, I purchased my first digital camera and then, whenever I was home, I began to photograph Wasilla upon a daily basis, but not in a conventional way. These were grab shots - whatever caught my eye as I took my many long walks or drove through the town, shooting through the car window at people and scenes that appeared and disappeared before I could even focus and compose in the traditional photographic way.

Thus, the Wasilla portion of this blog will be devoted both to the images that I take as I wander about and those that I have taken in the past. Despite the odd, random, nature of the images, I believe they communicate something powerful about this town that I have never seen expressed anywhere else. 

Wasilla is a sprawling community that has been slapped down hodge-podge upon what was so recently wilderness of the most exquisite beauty. In its design, it is deliberately anti-zoned, anti-planned. In the building of Wasilla, the desire to make a buck has trumped aesthetics and all other considerations. This town, built in the midst of exquisite beauty, has largely become an unsightly, unattractive, mess of urban sprawl. Largely because of this, it often seems to me that Wasilla is a community with no sense of community, a town devoid of town soul.

Yet - Wasilla is my home and if I am lucky it will be until I grow old and die. Despite its horrific failings, it is still made of the stuff of any small city: people; moms and dads, grammas and grampas, teens, children, churches, bars, professionals, laborers, soldiers, missionaries, artists, athletes, geniuses, do-gooders, hoodlums, the wealthy, the homeless, the rational and logical, the slightly insane and the wholly insane - and, yes, as is now obvious to the whole world, politicians, too.

So perhaps, if one were to search hard enough, it might just be possible to find a sense of community here, and a town soul. So, using my skills as a photojournalist and a writer, I hope to do just that. If this place has a sense of community, I will find it. If there is a town soul to Wasilla, I will document it. I won't compete with the newspapers. Hell no! But as time and income allow, it will be fun to wander into the places where the folks described above gather, and then put what I find on this blog.

 

by 300...

Anywhere within a 300 mile radius of Wasilla. This encompasses perhaps the most wild, dramatic, gorgeous, beautiful section of land and sea to be found in any comparable space anywhere on Earth. I can never explore it all, but I will do the best that I can, and will here share what I find and experience with you.  

and then some...

Anywhere else in the world that I happen to get to, such as Point Lay, Alaska; Missoula, Montana; Serenki, Chukotka, Russia; or Bangalore, India. Perhaps even Lagos, Nigeria. I have both a desire and scheme to get me there. It is a long shot. We shall see if I succeed.

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Friday
Jun122009

I return to the wedding

DateFriday, June 12, 2009 at 7:22PM

For those who are following the wedding, especially my relatives and friends in India, I apologize for having left it so long. I kept not having the time that I felt I needed to get back to it. But I am back now, and will finish this very evening, before I go to bed.

I left the wedding after Anil had tied the knot that bound the sacred necklace to the body and soul of the woman who was now his wife, to the applause and cheering of those in attendence.

There was still much more to come, however.

And so we continue...

Soon comes a ceremony in which the brother of the bride, Ganesh, repeatedly hands his sister a large scoop of rice, after which she and the groom stand and together pour it into the fire, further symbolizing the bond between themselves and their families. The bride and groom then circle the wedding platform. This happens a total of seven times.

Here is Ganesh, transferring the rice.

The bride and groom drop the rice into the fire.

The bride and groom circle the wedding platform. Please take note of the two chairs at right, now occupied by Anil's brother and his wife.

In the US, everybody knows about the exchange of rings that go on the fingers of the bride and groom, thus telling everyone that they are married. In India, the groom also places a marriage ring upon the second toes of both feet.

Feet seldom disappear into shoes the way they do here, so this ring will almost always be visible when Sandy is in a public place.

And then he dips her toes into rice, formed into the shape of an elephant, which rests atop a banana leaf.

Afterwards, there is a reception. Well-wishers line up to offer their congratulations.

Anil is congratulated by some of his friends.

Everybody wants to get their picture taken with the bride and groom. For the most part, I leave this task to the local photographer.

You might think that the ceremonies are all over now, but they aren't.

 

 

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment2 Comments |
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Reader Comments (2)

Going back to India and B'lore via your blog was a highlight in my day today. My daughter and I went to India in Feb. and March -- what a whirlwind, I will never possibly be able to do it the justice it deserves, yet I continue to try and have 174 days til I land on red earth again :)

Am from Cordova; am thinking I met you in May when you came down to cover the Copper River opener? I really have enjoyed seeing your India-related posts, your family, the wedding. Truly a treat. Wish you and yours all the best. Namaskar :)

I miss it very much, too.

July 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCindy Stimson

Glad you enjoyed the India material. I was not in Cordova for the opener this year, but I have spent a fair amount of time there so perhaps we have met.

July 12, 2009 | Registered CommenterWasilla, Alaska, by 300

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