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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
Jul012011

Outside rearview mirror - four studies of the Municipality of Anchorage: The biker and his stogie, UPS truck, unmarked cop and mark, strolling family

DateFriday, July 1, 2011 at 11:27AM

I had to drive into Anchorage to drop off some photos. I did not intend to shoot four serious studies involving my outside rearview mirrors, but then, as I waited for a red light to turn to green, I saw this guy behind me, smoking a stogie.

Suddenly, I knew it was time to do some serious study:

Outside Rearview Mirror Study of Anchorage, 1B: Biker smokes stogie while stopped at red light.

I wonder how it is to smoke a stogie in a motorcycle wind?

I figured one study was enough, and frankly, the creative effort involved in the biker-stogie study took just about everything that I had right out of me. So I thought I was done, but a bit thereafter, I again found myself stopped at a light, where I discovered that a UPS truck was behind me, the driver looking very serious indeed.

It was a huge challenge and required unprecedented effort, drive, and skill to shoot another serious study so quickly after the first, but I reached deep, dug up some adrenaline, rose to the challenge and shot it:

Outside Rearview Mirror Study of Anchorage, B1: the serious UPS man, the guy with the turned head, two indifferent women in a car.

Outside Rearview Mirror Study of Anchorage, 42C: unmarked police car at the scene of minor mishap.

I never imagined that I could do three studies, but I did. I thought I was okay, but as I neared Eagle River, I realized that the effort had drained me beyond belief and sapped me of all energy. I needed to refuel, so I pulled off for a Taco Bell stop. Shortly after exiting the freeway, I observed this family.

Yes, although many in Eagle River would chose to deny that they live in Anchorage, ER is within the Municipality of Anchorage, so here you go:

Outside Rearview Mirror Study of Anchorage, Z9: family strolling through Eagle River. The XXL burrito steak was really good.

For all those of you living or visiting Paris, France, please drop by the Louvre anytime from July 14 on. I expect that by then all four of these images will be on permanent display, at mural size, on Wall #9 - the most important and prestigious wall in all the Louvre.

 

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AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment4 Comments |
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Reader Comments (4)

Welcome back, Bill. You are obviously in better spirits since your beloved computer is working the way it should!

July 1, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterGrandma Nancy

i feel like i'm really getting to know alaska, bill. were a ups truck to magically deposit me at, say, the metro cafe, i would have no problem saying hi to shoshana and ordering some coffee and a slice of pie.

July 1, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterRuth Deming

That first photo is wonderful! You couldn't have set that one up if you tried. Fortuitous shot!

July 1, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterWhiteStone

your herculean effort really paid off...great studies :D, to bad i won't make it to France in the near future

July 2, 2011 | Unregistered Commentertwain12

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