An Introduction

My name is Steven Hall and I am a student at UAF majoring in Elementary Education. I grew up in Kentucky and the Caribbean and I have lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for 12 years. I worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for 7 years which allowed me to follow my dream of exploring Alaska and working on the water.

I love the outdoors and I love fish and the water. I look at wildlife, marine life, landscapes and how they interact and see something that has achieved perfection over millions of years. I look at an aquarium and see a reproduction of a natural biome. I see art and composition through aquarium glass. It is my favorite hobby. I am a fiend for natural history and art museums as well as aquariums. One of the most memorable days of my life is when I went to the Philadelphia Art Museum. My eyes are always looking for art in nature. A frozen waterfall or the stripes on a chum salmon’s side, it is all very beautiful to me.

I practiced film photography at UAF for several years. It is my favorite medium for art. Photography lets me turn something most people would otherwise overlook into something like art. A child practicing her flute or a salmon flopping on a fishing boat could potentially be something compelling with the correct lighting and composition.

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Below is a photogravure by photographer Alice Bailey. She is an Alaskan photographer and one of the first artists in Alaska to produce photogravures; an image that is pressed onto paper from an acid etched copper plate. Her portraits speak to me because she documents the lives of the people in Alaskan Villages in places I have spent much of my own time. I have always been impressed with the difficulty of the photogravure process. Her depictions of rural life in Alaska are uncommon because of her unique close relationships with her subjects. They make me want to go back to fishing with locals in Western Alaskan villages.

http://www.alice-bailey.com/