EXHIBITION: Lewis Point Goes to Juneau

Lewis Point: A Yup'ik Summer Fishing Camp opens at the Silverbow Inn in Juneau, Alaska tomorrow (Friday 5th March) at 4.30pm. Sadly I won't be able to make for the "First Friday" opening but I will be up there on the 18th for a reception with the supermen and ladies from Trout Unlimited.

Massive thank you to Tim, Lindsey and Elizabeth for being so generous and supportive with this project. For more info be sure to check out my new website dedicated to Seasons of Subsistence a new personal project of mine documenting Native Life in Bristol Bay, season by season.

Flying to Alaska

I'm writing from Dillingham, Alaska on my way up to a remote village called New Stuyahok. I'm heading up to photograph the winter lifestyle of Yup'ik Eskimos and create the next story for a new personal project I am working on called Seasons of Subsistence. This should be a great trip with dog sledge racing, ice-fishing and New Stuyahok's winter festival, I can't wait. Flying into Dillingham this afternoon was wild! I have never been up here in the winter and seeing the vast tundra frozen and covered with ice was breathtaking; even the great Nushagak River was frozen solid. So a winter adventure ahead. I hope to be blogging semi-regularly (when internet access permits) so stay-tuned to the blog or check-out the news section of Seasonsofsubsistence.com

The iPhone photo was taken just before making our decent into Dillingham - crazy how the blades from the prop have appeared in the image!

Seasons of Subsistence Online

What better way to start the week than by launching a new website: www.seasonsofsubsistence.com



Seasons of Subsistence is a new project in which I am documenting the lives of Native Alaskans living in Bristol Bay. The project all started in the summer of 2009 when I was invited to photograph a group of Yup'ik Eskimos at their summer fishing camp on the banks of the Nushagak River. Every summer five families migrate 160 miles down river to a place called Lewis Point where they set up camp and wait for the returning king salmon. Three generations work side-by-side, catching and smoking fish in much the same way as their ancestors hundreds of years before.

Over the course of my time at Lewis Point I learned more about Yup'ik life and the subsistence lifestyle they lead. Living season to season, the families of Lewis Point hunt and gather up to 80% of their calories from the land. Inspired by these families and their ability to lead a subsistence lifestyle in North America despite mounting social and environmental shifts, I committed myself to telling their story of life on the tundra.

So, a new website and the beginning of a two year initiative to document Native Life in Bristol Bay through a series of multimedia stories. From the king salmon harvest at Lewis Point to the last walrus hunters of Togiak Village, Seasons of Subsistence captures a remarkable culture and a disappearing way of life. Please join me here on my blog or over at seasonsosubsistence.com for up to date info and to follow my adventures in Bristol Bay.

LAX Magazine Highlights Bristol Bay

Nice little piece in LAX magazine covering Bristol Bay and the clear reasons to prevent Pebble Mine, potentially North America's largest open-pit mine, from being placed slap in the middle of the world's greatest salmon habitat!

Fishin's Hot in Bristol Bay

Two helicopter rides, a big processing ship and 24 hours on a driftboat catching wild sockeye salmon. A little snapshot below.

Upcoming shootings while I'm in Alaska include a sportfishing lodge, hiking into the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes including an attempt to summit Mount Katmai and then the usual kayak trip along the Savanoski Loop.

Exhibition: Alaska's Red Gold

I'm currently working with the wonderful folks over at Trout Unlimited to put together an exhibition of my images from this summers assignment in Bristol Bay, Alaska. If you are in the Seattle area in November then be sure to drop by the Tashiro Kaplan Center, 312 South Washington Street.

Tell a friend or ten and lets get some more momentum to stop Pebble Mine.

The Science Behind the Salmon

Some images from a recent trip up the Wood River to Aleknagik. Aleknagik is at the base of seven lakes known as the Chain of Lakes. Its one of the most stunning landscapes I have been. I was warmly welcomed at the Washington University Fisheries Research station. Its all about the salmon there. With passion and purpose a great team of scientists and conservationists, grad students and undergrads yomp around the lake, up streams, and over tundra all in the name of salmon science.





























Plus a cheeky view of the lake from the research station's dock. This was taken at midnight. The light is simply lush up here, I love it!

FRESH TO FROZEN

I Just returned from a few days on board a floating salmon processing ship. An unreal experience!