Newsletter #144-B: July, 2017
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
EVACUATION NEWSLETTER – Part II
“Turning a Crisis into Art”
Hi everyone,
This is a milestone newsletter. Not only is it the 144th monthly photographic newsletter without missing a single month (that’s twelve years), it’s a 3-part “Evacuation Special” newsletter. Share it with your friends. ‘Like’ and ‘share’ it on Facebook. Enjoy!
On Saturday, July 8th, I said goodbye to our home for a second time. This time the evacuation took me north. We begin this visual story where I left off in Newsletter #144 – Part I.
This story tells how I turned my evacuation time into an artist’s retreat. Although constantly aware of the crisis at hand, I remained calm by entering another world; the world of imagination and creativity.
Our goal at the Chris Harris Gallery is to share photographic adventures and inspire others in the creative process. Please share this Newsletter with friends. We appreciate your interest and continued support for my work.
Contents:
- Evacuation: Leaving our home for a second time
- Turning a Crisis into Art
- Using Art to Develop a Sense of Place
- Subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter
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Evacuation: Leaving our home for a second time
This time I travel north…to somewhere
After saying goodbye to our home for a second time, I found Hwy 97 blocked southbound. Not being able to return to the Horn ranch and my rescued possessions, I was forced to head north. I had no idea where I would go this time. I drove slowly and made the above image as I passed the 108 Heritage Site (I know; I am not supposed to photograph while driving!!!). It was deserted.
I pull in at Fir Crest Resort
I arrived at a road block at Lac La Hache and the officer asked me where I was going. I said. “I have no idea”. He smiled and said, “good luck”!
I drove on. I had the highway to myself. It was surreal. Then my cell rang. Because there was no traffic, I answered while driving (I know!) and it was Rita from up north in the Peace Country. She told me that Fir Crest Resort had just posted an invitation on Facebook to anyone who needed a place to stay; FREE! Can you believe it; I was driving right by the entrance to their resort!! I made an immediate left turn.
This became my home. Unbelievable!
I sheepishly knocked on the office door and introduced myself as an evacuee. I was welcomed in my Nancy and Adam Ragan who gave me a lakeside cabin and then proceeded to feed me three meals a day! What a place to be stuck; people come here from around the world on vacation! I was in heaven.
Holy smokes! The view from my cabin
Forest fire sunset
Smoke drifted over Lac La Hache from either the 150 Mile fire to the north or the 100 Mile House fire in the south. The wind changed constantly. We were all glued to social media for the latest news, always wondering if our homes were in danger or if we had to evacuate again.
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Turning a Crisis into Art: Day one
A new day. A new adventure
Duggan and I were now extremely close buddies. He sensed the change and was always by my side. I told him we were going on a photographic adventure. I suddenly had time to be creative without a single office distraction. So I decided to do something completely new. I put a fisheye lens on a single camera body, and with no tripod, Duggan and I left our cabin and entered a small forest on the property. Duggan was excited because he was going on a walk. I too was excited, but I didn’t know why yet.
Wow! This was a magical forest
The gift of life is imagination and creativity. By using a new perspective, I was about to turn a small forest into a world of endless artistic possibilities. I was on cloud 9. I temporarily forgot my real world predicament.
‘Wow’, a second time! The forest was enchanted
It was also eerie, mysterious, and haunted
Creatively exhausted, Duggan and I head back to the cabin
I made dozens and dozens of exciting imagery that day. By looking at my surroundings through a different lens and a new perspective I had turned an ordinary forest into an enchanted one. I had also turned a day with nothing to do, into a day of stimulating visual adventures.
Back at the lake shore
Nancy and Adam were even so kind as to take Duggan and I for a boat ride around part of Lac La Hache. I photographed bald eagles and, of course, smoke!
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Using Art to Develop a Sense of Place: Day two
Art is a process of discovery, and discovery requires experimentation, taking chances, being free, and looking up as well as looking down.
Making a picture of one’s own reflection in a window is part of that process!
I am primarily a landscape photographer, but that opportunity was limited where I was, so I decided to push myself in a new direction. I challenged myself to look at the row of cabins and all the other buildings on the property. I was about to develop a sense of place at Fir Crest Resort through the craft of photography and the art of seeing and discovery.
Fir Crest Resort: abstract I
I could have made documentary or representational images of the buildings, recording them in the exact same way as anyone who was with me would have seen them. How interesting is that?
Fir Crest Resort: abstract II
To hold my interest and excitement for the day, I decided to interpret my surroundings, not record them. So I eliminated all context and made images that were completely abstract. The elements of line, shape, colour and contrast became the centre of interest in and of themselves. These images hold no reality. They became inscapes of my imagination.
Fir Crest Resort: abstract III
I had a blast. I was engrossed in the world of artistic expression; complete abstraction.
Duggan, on the other hand, said it was rather boring! Not enough action he said!
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A Message to New Visitors
Smoky sunset through the forest
For those of you who have been referred to this Newsletter as a result of the forest fires, my partner Rita Giesbrecht and I welcome you and we invite you to subscribe. They are photographic newsletters designed to teach photography, inspire others in the creative process, and share photographic adventures in the Cariboo Chilcotin region of British Columbia.
If you are visiting the Cariboo, come by to visit the Chris Harris Gallery to see slide-sound shows on the region, photographic art, and many of Chris’ books on the region. Chris also teaches photographic workshops and is a public presenter.
By subscribing, you will be notified by email once a month when they are posted.
“Evacuation – Part III” will follow in Newsletter #144-C. Stay tuned!
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thanks Chris amazing imagination
Thank you Val!
Exquisite, haunting, absorbing, beauty..absolutely stunning….
A real compliment coming from an artist like yourself. Thanks Barb.
Chris ! BeautifuL eyes !! … & Being in the moment … Lovely Lovely … Thank You.
So great to hear from you Julia. Coming from an artist like yourself, I really appreciate your words.
Really enjoying this!
Thank you Carol. It’s fun!
Wow! Chris I am so happy to know that you, Rita and Duggan are safe and sound and your home and gallery are still standing, thanks to a change of direction of those roaring, fire-driven winds. My heart was with you in that adrenaline rush as you realized the reality of what was happening before you. You have certainly been on an emotional ride. I love that your refuge place opened up to you at the point of surrendering to not knowing where you were going.
You are right! When we shift our perspective on what is happening for us on the outside, our innate gifts of imagination and creativity from the inside can take us into a new world.
I so appreciate you sharing that world with us.
I pray that this next phase of heat and wind stays clear of your home and community.
Love and Light. You are a miracle of existence. 💖😃
Adbhuta (Liz)
Dear Adbhuta. You have always been special in my life. I remember guiding that hiking expedition across the Spatsizi with you many years ago. Fred Chapman was on that trip and he still talks about it. Hi is 94 now! Thank you for your thoughts, kind words, and prayers and for staying in touch. I look forward to seeing you next time you pass through the Cariboo. Lots of love to you.
“Magic Forest” is astonishing. My husband and I toured your home gallery about 10+ years ago.
We so enjoy your newsletters. We were actually travelling home from our Bowron Lake adventure.
The lush green mossy hillside from your gallery still hangs in our bedroom.
Its calm and quiet presence is enjoyed everyday!
Bless your artistry and what it means to us.
Kind regards
Ken and Chantal R.
Thank you for your kind words. It’s wonderful to hear of your memories here in the Cariboo and that a print of mine helps those memories and feelings stay alive. And thanks for staying in touch through my newsletters. That’s amazing. All the very best to you both. I’ll see you next time you visit!!
Mind-blowing abstracts!
Thanks Chris!
You are a so lucky guy, surviving the fire, getting great images,
I hope you don’t mind, but I have a group of x – airline people of 65 that I send selected emails to regularly.
Some are interested in Photography so I send them this kind of information. One has already signed up.
something fishy in the forest me thinkus.
Thanks Bill. Appreciated.
Stunning images Chris!! Unfortunately (or not) me thinks a book is a must!
Thank you for showing us one example of an incredible opportunity in the midst of a crisis.
Thanks again Buzz. Maybe my newsletters are my book!!
Thank you Chris to share your eperience of your evacuation with us.
For me – I live in Switzerland in a region where we don’t know forest fires – are this pictures and the story behind spectacular. I hope that everything ends well for you.
Thank you kindly Verena. I have seen the beauty of your country; it’s just so different, especially in scale. Best wishes.
Hi Chris, good to hear you are safe, as well as your home. The pictures are fantastic! Lon & I agree with the comments re a book in the offing! It needs to be done perhaps with some stories of the survivors included. Incredible,,brave people! Heartbreaking to see so much of our beautiful Chilcotin Cariboo going up in flames. Take care, love, Kaye Green & Lon Wertz.
Wonderful to hear from you both. Hope this finds you both well. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Chris – you need a new camera. This one keeps taking these crazy, blurry pictures. JUST KIDDING!
Glad to hear you’re back home at the C&R world headquarters and managed to make some great visual “lemonade” from a very sour situation.
Thanks John!!
Not only. do your images ‘blow me away” but they inspire me to the depth of my being.
Thank you so kindly Joan.
such beautiful images. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Thanks Michelle. Thanks for commenting.
Next time I am at Fircrest Resort I will be looking at it totally different. Thank you for sharing this beautiful gift you have.
Thanks…it’s an amazing place!
Glad you are all safe and back in your cozy home Chris, Rita and Duggan.
All is well now Rick but another big one is coming up from Clinton. Also, hot spots are busting into flames everywhere. I put a few out this morning just out photographing. One day, lets fly over it all. When the airways are not ‘no-fly zones’.
Love the photos! Brilliant!
Thanks so much!!
good stuff Chris…….this growing collection of abstracts is really getting under my skin! Glad you’re home safe and sound. Darrel
Thanks and thanks for being in touch. Both of you …have a great summer.
Dear Chris. It’s inspirational that you choose to find new ways of creativity in such a crisis and not only enrich your life but ours’ too! That said, it is only right you did exactly that because you could have not changed anything about the fire or the evacuation and, God forbid, the loss of your beloved home. And that is what inspires me most! You created something new and beautiful when you could have succumbed to dread and just wait it our passively. This makes these photos even more beautiful and also significant!
Thank you for your very kind words. My parents taught me to always look for the best side of life. My way of seeking that is with my camera. It’s just what I enjoy doing. Thanks again. Your words inspire ME.