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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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Sunday
Feb212010

I sit facing the door; I see people come and go, I witness a man buying a newspaper; Jobe gets a bath

DateSunday, February 21, 2010 at 4:00AM

I took breakfast at Mat-Su Valley Family Restaurant and was seated at a table by myself, as Margie had already eaten oatmeal. I faced the door. From this amazing vantage point, I was able to observe this man buy a newspaper.

I also saw this woman and this little girl exit, hopefully with their bellies full.

This man entered, hungry, I assume.

And then along came this little girl, followed by two people who appeared to be her parents. I'll bet that she was very excited to be eating out with them.

These two gentlemen entered and then stood there, waiting to be seated, as one of them spoke to someone on his cell phone. I don't know who he was speaking too, but I have a hunch it was President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Although this post will not appear until Sunday, right now it is Friday night. As soon as I finish it, I will make another, short, simple one and schedule it to appear Monday. I've got a very important task that I absolutely must finish up over the weekend and I am still recovering from the birth of Jobe and the mad round of blogging that I did afterward, so that is why I am clearing the weekend to be free of blogging. 

I will, of course, keep a camera with me through the weekend.

In fact, this final image is an example.

Come the evening of the day this post is scheduled is scheduled to go up, one full week will have passed since I last saw my new little grandson, Jobe. Lavina did text this iPhone pic of him getting a bath to my iPhone and I found it Saturday morning and attached it to this post.. As you can see, he has grown tremendously.

He is a veritable giant now.

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment8 Comments |
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Reader Comments (8)

Now that Jobe has grown into a giant, maybe he can drive in and meet you at the Mat-Su restaurant for breakfast tomorrow... He'll still fit at the table, right?

February 21, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterdebby

You will have to forgive me for nto beign here in a while now, my blog round is sufferring greatly as I have beign very busy... I will be in New York for a Month in July as part of this fellows, I wish I can visit you in Alaska then...

Is the baby so little or isa it the picture that zoomed the baby in so much.

February 21, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterStandtall-The Activist

Appears to be a lot warmer in Alaska than it is here in Minnesota! LOVED the photo of Jobe's bath. Already a typical-little-boy reaction to a bath,,,,, Thanks, again!

February 21, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterGrandma Nancy

Beautiful boy!

February 21, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterManxMamma

Jobe is a very sweet baby! When my daughter was his age, giving her a bath was always a challenge. Keep the pics coming, especially the ones of the children. It's 67 degrees here in Middle GA today.

February 21, 2010 | Unregistered Commentermajii

absolutely spectacular photo of jobe on the iphone looking like tom thumb.

February 21, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterruth z deming

wow, he is cute. last may i was in the delivery-room when my cousin (we are both 29) gave birth to her second child (a girl) and seeing it actually happen was life changing -i have no kids myself. so i fully respect the power of seeing a new human enter our big air-breathing world.

i read your blog every day (i found you through gryphen), even if i don't comment.

and i love that you are so willing to share your daily life with the world (hey, online=basically the world, i got online in iquitos in the middle of the amazon, the largest city on earth not reach-able by road -@ nearly 4 million humans, including the outskirts-) and i love it that you and yours are willing to share with "us".

so i see that you said his name is pronounced "joe-bee" which is awesome, but everytime i read it in text i hear "hoe-beh" in my head. just my wannabe-spanish skills kicking in? is it really Joe- BEE to say out loud?

you have a very beautiful family, thanks for showing the world that wasilla is much more than S. Palin. (oh, i live -now- in the chicago suburbs).

i wish you and yours always the best.

laura

February 22, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterluna1580

Debby - As of right now, he could still fit at the table. Given his rate of growth, by the time he gets here he might be too big.

Standtall - Nice to see you here. Baby is pretty much just as he looks. It would be great if you make it to Alaska next summer. I hope you do.

Grandma Nancy - It's a lot warmer in Alaska right now even than it is in Alaska. It's crazy.

Manx - Thank you.

ruth - There I thought he looked like a little giant.

Laura - Wow - a "bush" city of four million! Yes, it is Joe-Bee to say out loud.

February 22, 2010 | Registered CommenterWasilla, Alaska, by 300

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