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Web posted Thursday, May 30, 2002

New book documents Celebration
Juneau-raised photographer captures Celebration moments since 1982

By RILEY WOODFORD
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE © 2002

As a child in Juneau in the 1960s, Samuella Samaniego pored over art books in the Juneau Public Library. Now a fine-art and commercial photographer, she's about to see a book of her own work on the shelves of Alaska's libraries.

"Celebration," a 50-page volume of black and white photographs, documents the dancing and ceremony of Sealaska Heritage Institute's biennial culture gathering. Samaniego's photographs range from the first event in 1982 to the millennium Celebration two years ago.

The release of the new book coincides with Celebration 2002. Samaniego will be in Juneau for a slide show presentation and book-signing from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, at the downtown library. Her slide show will include images that are not in "Celebration," and she'll talk about being a professional photographer and an Alaska Native, and her work photographing Alaska Natives.

"If people are curious about me as an artist, I'll answer questions," she said. "It's not a technical presentation, but I will answer any questions."

A 1976 graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School, Samaniego now lives in Seattle. She said the Juneau libraries were a second home to her when she was a child.

"Libraries kept me alive growing up," she said. "Dale DeArmond was a big influence. I met her when she was a librarian. She was intimidating as a librarian but she could see I was a geeky, nerdy kid - I was into the art books. I looked at them over and over. I can remember the day she told me I had outgrown the children's books and I could go upstairs."

In honor of that influence, Samaniego and her publisher, Best Dog Editions of Seattle, are donating a copy of "Celebration" to every library in Alaska. In addition, the books are being offered at a discounted price of $10 during Celebration, and will be priced at $18.95 afterward.

"That was largely to acknowledge the people who work so hard to get to Juneau (for Celebration) - we wanted to make sure it was affordable," she said.

Samaniego started taking pictures when she was 12, mostly focusing on her friends and other people.

"Once I took the (photography) class in high school, it caught on like fire," she said. "I was completely absorbed."

Shortly after she started the class, Kodak stopped making film for her obsolete camera. Her teacher, Brian Grove, loaned her his own camera for the next two years.

"Without him I don't think I'd have been as committed or interested as I was," she said. "My family didn't have the financial resources. His camera changed my life."

After graduating, she traveled and eventually studied photography at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif. Over the years, she lived in Juneau and Seattle, and although she didn't attend every biennial Celebration event, she was able to photograph many of the dances and festivities.

"Every Celebration I'm completely moved by how people expend themselves emotionally," she said.

Growing up with Juneau's perennially gray skies gave her an appreciation for black and white photography. She shoots color when she is hired to, but her own fine-art photography is strictly traditional black and white. She said she loves the way it reduces visual elements to form and tone, and how it emphasizes the shapes within the compositions.

The hands-on darkroom work also appeals to her, although at times it can be grueling. Last fall she was run over by a car and her leg was broken in two places. That made long printing sessions in the darkroom especially painful.

"I was in tears at times at the end of the day, working in a cast and a brace," she said. "As hard as it is on your body, I do love working in the darkroom. There are printing papers I've been in love with for years. The thought of giving that up is heartbreaking. I'll do this for as long as I can."

Most of the images in "Celebration" were shot with fast film in available light. She uses 35 mm and medium-format cameras.

Samaniego recently returned from France and is preparing for a solo exhibit in August at the Sacred Circle gallery in Seattle. The show will feature images from her travels to Europe, landscapes and nudes, and images of water.

Main stage: Dancers perform a vigorous dance in full regalia during Celebration 2000. The photo is one in a collection by Samuella Samaniego in her new book, "Celebration." Courtesy of Samuella Samaniego

Tiny dancer: A child watches as performers sing, dance and drum at Centennial Hall during Celebration 2000. Courtesy of Samuella Samaniego

Documenting Celebration: Samuella Samaniego is a fine-art and commercial photographer living in Seattle. Courtesy of Samuella Samaniego

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