Fish Camp; Halibut Cove, 2017
Salmon is not just food to Alaskans. Nor is it simply a profession or recreation. Salmon is deeply felt to be a critical part of living in Alaska, embodying multiple roles, wrapped up in the way of life. An example is Don Darnell's annual Fish Camp in Halibut Cove. Actually a series of one-day "camps" spread across the fleeting summer, these are intensive social events, equivalent to barn-raisings and quilting parties. Participants each have roles in the collective process of cutting fresh salmon into packable slices, smoking them, and finally "canning" them in glass jars in a pressure cooker. Each jar is a time capsule, to be savored during the year that will pass before the next Fish Camp convenes. Here are some images from the July 11, 2017 camp on Don's Halibut Cove float. Maybe more, next post.
August 10 addition: Please note that I have loaded (many) more Fish Camp photos in a dedicated gallery. Here is the direct link:
http://www.zenfolio.com/bobeastaughimagery/p270651134
Fish Camp production line: Marlene, Kenny, Suzanne, Robin. Andreas watches.
How the day started, and progressed: Halibut Cove early.
The crew on Don's float
Left: Master fileter Kenny cleans up. Right: Jars await.
Suzanne, Vivienne, Robin
Suzanne, Sophie, Louis, Robin
Don's prayer flags bless the salmon as it "skims" in open air before smoking.
Nurse Robin extracts a splinter from Don.
Vivienne and Louis, from Morocco(!)
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.