East Kootenay Street Art….well tree art….and raptors

I don’t when my fascination with the Eagle clan started. It has been ongoing since I can remember, likely the same amount of time I have had eyeballs to see. Perhaps it began with my curiosity with the sky, sitting on my soccer ball as a young boy, watching the storms roll in, and usually getting in trouble for putting myself in danger. Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction from him back. I can say with some certainty I haven’t been struck by lightening yet. By learning at an early age to look up, I have been gifted with some stunning moments, no doubt. Let’s get back to the eagle though…and a rather large raptor, the bald eagle, and the even larger variety, the golden eagle. Living in East Kootenay along the banks of the Columbia River, previously known by different names such as the Big River, Nchi wana (Upper Chinook), and Wimahl (Sahaptin). It is teaming with life, from angry man, okay they are not all angry… and his noisy machines, to the animal kingdom, in all it’s grace. I tend to focus my attention on the later, and I have made it a life long commitment to document it’s awe and wonder. The eagles are a tricky shot, unlike my grandfather who tended to carry a rifle, my choice of device is a camera, and sometimes a very big lens. In fact my one arm seems to be developing strange new muscles from holding my camera in position for extended periods of time. I started photography shooting black and film, mostly street art as the city was where I lived. It certainly developed my skill for photography, being quick, understanding exposure and light, an absolute must for shooting wild life. Unlike street photography shooting wildlife does call for a slightly different approach. I hang out with the eagles without my camera, and they learn that I am part of the ecosystem, mostly curious of my presence, and sometimes annoyed if I get too close for comfort. We tend to learn from each other and they remind me to be patient, appreciate, and be present. The eagles love to communicate with one another, in such mysterious ways, that I would never try to explain, or rationalise their behaviour. I am not so much studying them, I rather think of it as connecting with them, observing their ways, gaining their trust, and showing them that humans are capable of being quiet. I also tend to visit them by foot, this is the best way, as you can hear, and see, and one less polluting vehicle on the road is a good thing. They have put on shows that sent my jaw to the ground and left me invigorated and energised. I am both humbled and feel honoured in their presence, and the best shots are always with my eyes, and not with a camera. They call the shots, and that’s just the way it is.

Thank you for reading now for some recent images.

Side note: My hope is to release a short film on my feathered friends, in the not so distant future…

EAGLE STILLS and SCREEN GRAB images from the hälts collection
Copyright hälts 2022

Update: I am working on a new WordPress gallery and page, same address, that will be up before you know it, stay tuned. Thank you for your patience and Aloha, hälts

The Buddy

Just walking around you always run into the funniest of things.

fotomahaloness 

walking the beat

‘The Buddy’

streetdocufoto c.2015

Laughing is medicine.

exchanging gifts

Nature is an exchange between life force, we are a part of it’s weave, it’s ebbs and flows. When the ground shakes we shake, and if you have ever felt this you know what  I mean. Nature time is a calibrator, it reconnects my being to the energy of the planet, other than what the man made structures and technology have to offer. Now this is an interesting point when one asks the question, is not everything in life ‘Nature’? Are we part of a wholistic, or are we seperate and divisive, or as Levi-Strauss would call it, in a state of  ‘binary opposition’; such that we do the things we do in order to mediate between these oppositons, and that this has been going on since we have been here on Earth. Answers to this question will inevitably bring an array of life experience and individuality which I would argue is what David Lewis-Williams* calls ‘full spectrum consciousness’, which is what some think the early versions of homo sapiens were already equipped with. Over time and subsequently 100’s of thousands of years of evolution later, we have come full circle. We currently live in a world with the technolgy and tools that allows us to further seek and draw from this ‘full spectrum of consciouness’, which is rather incredible, and it feels like it has been around forever in yet it is seems so new. Contemporary descriptions of ‘full spectrum consciousness’ come in a variety of labels, and yet to me they all speak of the same thing, and perhaps that is what unites us, and regretably divides us. I wish to continune on this thought thread, perhaps I will meet some new discoveries as I explore the idea of a ‘picture of everything.’ 

*if this resonates with you, you may be interested in ‘The Mind in the Cave’ a book by J. David Lewis-Williams Thames and Hudson, or even better yet go explore and spend time with cave art and rock art. 

**all ideas expressed here at Mahaloness are not necessarily those of the author, they are from the ‘full specturm consciousness’ and are intended for entertaiment purposes only. 

fotoMahaloness

The world I live in most days is the city. In citylife I am continually inundated by vibrational frequencies that foster a feeling of separation. A city is competitive, man made, hustle and bustle, fearful, fast, judgemental, and ego. Nature is humble, involved, and connected.  Although competition can be found in Nature, it is often found where there is an instability, which seems to be correlated with human related endeavors, animals given no choice in the matter because of our humanness and the hierarchies and divisions we created. – ‘hälts’

   

repatching

  
        

grey area, where human and Nature positively correlate

    

Its easy to get lost in the city, it is a complex weave that appears to go on forever.

 (b&w digiprint from the hälts streetfoto collection)

   Citylife 

Acrylic and ink on Canvas  c.2004

bee on the wall

I am a bee on the wall. (bee stencil art by hälts c.2014)



I am a man walking down the busy city street. (hälts street fotography Toronto c.2005)



I am the shadow in a quiet street. (shadow work, Paia town, Maui explorations c.2012)



I am the social experiment at a festival (Entheos 2011, art experiment no. 55 fotodocument)



I am the Chief on the bus.

(Bassbus c.2011, detail looking at Chief Big Hau, he is based on a Chief from the Siksika Nation (Cluny Alberta)  whom my grandfather befriended in the 1930’s)



I am one with it, yet also insignificant, a small speck surrounded by the infinite. 



fotoStreetmahaloness

Life on the streets can be hard. The city is a place that offers little in the way of contemplation as the world speeds forward toward never ending progress.
fotoMahaloness -street cred, fotos taken in Toronto circa 2007 just before the black out. Some refer to Toronto as the ‘Big Smoke’. I think it’s a tough town, filled with lots of people, and their dreams. And, there are constant reminders of those who have struggled in the process. (Originally b&w ILFORD HP5 Plus 400 shot on an old and very heavy Nikkormat 1970’s model.)

Dedicated to those who struggle in cities, may we never turn a blind eye to those who need help.