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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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Monday
Aug022010

Slide show: traditional Gwich'in dance at the Gathering

DateMonday, August 2, 2010 at 1:08PM

Those who came to the Gwich'in Gathering in Fort Yukon - or Gwichyaa Zhee, as the community is known in Gwich'in - celebrated throughout the week with many different kinds of dances, from jigs, square, and other fiddle dances to rock and roll and even a bit of rap.

Yet, it was the original, traditional dances of the Gwich'in people in all their beauty and grace that the people chose to open their gathering, and to mark important moments throughout. Dancers came from Arctic Village, Venetie and Circle and in their invitationals were joined by everybody.

Over today and tomorrow, I will post multiple slide shows as I can complete them.

 

Click here or on the photo to view 27-image slide show


AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment6 Comments |
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Reader Comments (6)

Oh, Such beautiful people! I hope they always take joy in the tradition of their forebears.

August 2, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterWhiteStone

Those are exquisite photos, Bill. I particularly like The passionate young man and the row of girls

August 2, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterOmegaMom

Cheers to the Gwich'in people, these are beautiful photos.

You transport us there Bill, but I still want to really be there.

August 2, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterMichelle

Well, done. You capture a life that few people can experience, and you present it to us. 'Present' is the right word, because it is like a gift, coming here to see where you've been this day....

August 3, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterdebby

what gorgeous people....love, love that pictures

August 3, 2010 | Unregistered Commentertwain12

Very active and sweet photos. I do love the turquoise accents on the costumes -- especially the young girl's nail polish.

August 3, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterkathleen

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