Sun-bathed fall images exalt the upper Yukon River valley before yielding to the black and white grip of a six-month winter.
Brian Heaphy, Featured Artist
“I primarily shoot river scapes and, as such, I spend much of my summers camping along the Yukon River and its tributary streams.
This, of course, means that I am greatly skilled at swatting mosquitoes and sitting in the rain for hours while waiting for the sun to come out! It has its moments indeed, but, I do treasure the experience.
I practice a very unique subsistence lifestyle here in the remote upper Yukon River valley of interior Alaska. It takes me an hour to hike into the nearest tiny town in order to access satellite telephone and internet services.
As a “one-man-band,” getting ready for winter here is a full-time job. Doing things the “old-fashioned way” takes time. When temperatures plunge to minus 50,60, or 70° F with only two hours of daylight, a person really has to have their act together!
Refracted light creates tones of warming color as winter approaches the upper Yukon River valley. Uncommon and fleeting, such moments add striking contrast to the reality of the season.
I have been richly blessed with the skills, abilities, and opportunity to live as I do. As one might suspect, however, my success has come only at the cost of a great deal of sacrifice and a fair amount of self-imposed discomfort. Nonetheless, I consider those costs a very fair exchange for the personal growth which I have experienced along the way. The unforeseen gift of a strong and growing personal faith has been the icing on the cake.
There are very few people left on this planet who live as I do. It is a very arduous routine but the pay-off comes in the form of increased discernment and “crystal vision.” That is to say that a person quickly learns to differentiate between those things which matter and those which do not, as well as those things which one can live without and those which one cannot. It is extremely satisfying and purposeful to be able to live and move at the speed of creation.
Placid waters combine with the gentle sweep of the country to extend an irresistible invitation to pause and admire.
For someone who originally grew up in the northwest hills of New England, and who graduated from Annapolis with a degree in engineering, I could not have landed any farther from those beginnings!
I can honestly say however, that it has always been my heart’s desire to find a niche such as the one which I now treasure. All of my previous pursuits and occupations have effectively combined to prepare me for the demands of my present circumstances. Amazingly, it has all “added up!”