Hannah Crazyhawk

I was born in Sitka, Alaska, an island by the sea. Parts of the ocean have never left me. I spent my childhood exploring the wild and wet coastal forests of Southeast Alaska. My grandmother was a scientist. She adored birds, botany and astronomy. My grandmother taught me to be a naturalist from the beginning. I still remember the bird feeders on her deck. I would wait for hours with my hands wrapped around the hummingbird feeders, as still as can be, waiting for the hummingbirds to come land on my little hands. I have spent most of my life waiting for birds. And the birds have always come. The one thing I can always count on is the birds at my backyard feeders, the birds in front of my camera lens, and the raptors on my glove.

 

Birds have been there for me in my darkest times. I capture photos of birds because they bring me life. Over a decade ago I took my relationship with birds of prey deeper. I began volunteering at The Alaska Raptor Center. I took the emergency call phone for injured eagles. I spent years rehabilitating raptors and other wild birds. I became enamored with the behavior and training of birds of prey. Soon after my eagle-wrangling adventures, I acquired my falconry license. Falconry is my greatest love, joy, and obsession. The birds I have trained have brought me more healing than anything else in my life.

 

I have been chronically ill for the majority of my life. My trauma, pain, and suffering constantly push my mind and body to dark places. Despite my anguish, I continue to transmute my pain into art. The artistic drive runs so deep in my blood that I must be creating something or else I feel I will literally be no one. My urge to narrate and educate through my art is vital.

 

My work is not only my gift to the world - it is my world. People often ask how I take the photos that I do. I tell them I don’t think much when I take a photo, I simply see an end goal in my mind’s eye and I react instinctively to my surroundings - using my camera as a window into my heart, my soul, and my vision. I continuously see light, subjects, shapes, and colors all mingling together, to form photographs. I capture my existence and the dreams I want to see come true, one photon at a time.