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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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« Anil returns from the temple - the wedding will continue | Main | Meanwhile, out in the crowd... »
Wednesday
Jun032009

Groom gets cold feet, chickens out, decides he does not want to marry, flees the scene

DateWednesday, June 3, 2009 at 11:40PM

Oh no! The groom has decided that he does not want to marry, after all. He leaves the marriage hall.

Outside the door, the horn players announce his exit.

The bride's family wants him to go through with the marriage. He takes a seat.

An umbrella is opened above him. He is showered with flower petals.

The flower petals bring a smile to his face.

After the parents of the bride wash and mark his feet, Soundarya's brother, Ganesh, takes the umbrella. Ganesh will also shower Anil with flower petals.

In a demonstration of her respect, Bhanu marks Anil's feet with tumeric powder.

Bhanu and Ravi team up to give Anil still another foot washing.

Will it work? Will Anil decide to stay and go through with the wedding? Maybe he should go to the temple and pray about it.

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

Well this is an unexpected twist. I thought every aspect was worked out before the wedding. Maybe a couples counseling would have been a good idea.

As traditional as it may be, this whole attitude of "I'll marry your beautiful daughter, but only if you beg me to" seems backward to me. Isn't the man supposed to court the woman and beg her to marry him???

June 4, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMissSunshine

The US is the US and India is India. Remember that Soundarya and Anil broke their own ground in this marriage, as it was a love union, whereas they had been expected to enter into arranged marriages, neither courting nor begging the other, but accepting the mates others had chosen for them. They still chose to marry within the comfort and context of their Hindu tradition and, unusual though it may be to American eyes, this is part of it.

Also, while my knowledge of India is very small, it is clear to me that it is nation steeped in ancient, deep, tradition that is forging ahead into the modern era at lightning speed. As such, many changes are taking place, including those governing the place of women and the relationship of men and women together. There are many entrepreneurs in India and they include women - Soundarya even, as she is starting up a teaching and tutoring business of her own.

So, as to the question you pose, I believe that India will work that out in its own way and own time, according to its own terms.

June 5, 2009 | Registered CommenterWasilla, Alaska, by 300

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