Although this winter wasn’t too harsh in Fairbanks, I often found it difficult to find the right conditions to photograph for this series. Weekends were filled with planned tasks, prepping to ship this exhibition or that, and, as was often the case, the weather was too good. Perfect blue skies, gorgeous late morning sunrises and early afternoon golden hours don’t help me here. No, Skookum demands the type of shooting conditions I often tell my students to avoid: dull light, dim skies, uniform clouds lacking any definition.  After years of struggling to find good light for Stories Fading Fast during my MFA work, I find myself similarly struggling to find the bad lighting I now crave…

After nearly a year of not creating a single image for this series, I finally got a break two weeks ago. I hopped in the SUV with my son and trusty Lab, Rolo, and made a day trip down to Chitina. Although Chitina isn’t the tourist draw now that it is in the height of fishing season, there were hundreds of miles of isolated terrain and a solid two days worth of dismal and dreary weather. After 700+ miles of driving, I was content that I likely created four new images for this developing series.

As well, I’m happy to say that I’ve made progress on a series statement after avoiding the task for too long. Having these words on paper now will hopefully direct my photography and allow me to expand the series further over the next couple winters.  See the entire series and statement here.