When the blue calls.
Glacier cave adventures and knowing yourself.
There’s a state that settles within me when I encounter blue. Not just any blue, but the cerulean depths of glacier ice. It’s not a gentle sigh of peace, but rather a deep, soulful invigoration that propels me forward towards challenges and the unknown.
A few weeks ago in early January, I visited a glacier cave in the Canadian Rockies that I'd explored two years previously. It’s a bit of a trek to get to, involving an early start and late finish, potentially vicious wind, and unpredictable snow and ice. This day however, was a dream. A few trusted adventure/creative friends, blue skies, and no wind to hinder the laughter. On the approach to the toe of the glacier where we knew the cave entrance to be, it was immediately apparent how much the ice had changed in two years. Gone was an almost impossibly huge ice cathedral; in its place was a smaller, more humble cave with a scalloped roof and a gently sloping pool of ice as the floor.
It’s hard to describe the awe of being under a glacier. Imagine being displaced out of our time, into a fathomless realm capable of forming the face of the earth. Of course, that’s what glaciers are, that’s what makes them so significant. But to be in a glacier, to touch that dimension, to experience a moment in the blue… that’s what speaks to the deepest, primordial bits of my soul.
I wandered parts of the cave to let it sink in while my friends worked on their own creative visions. I knew I wanted to capture a feeling of reverence and try to translate the depths of blue to the viewer. I’ve been experimenting with bringing an element of the surreal into my photography; the idea of introducing a seemingly unrelated shot of tension into what would traditionally be a landscape or portrait image satisfies my creative quirks. Using myself in the photo means that I have to work with my own body; there’s an extra layer of challenge to the creation process that I enjoy. And that’s how this image was made.
Within “Icefall” the ghostly figure is looking toward the cave entrance, perhaps advancing, perhaps retreating, but obviously part of the ice that envelops her. The blue that radiates from the cave is within her. It feels surreal, almost like a fantasy, but such is the very real nature of being in a glacier.
It seems fitting to present my first image of 2023 in this first “The Wilding” Substack post. As I’ve gotten older I crave the soul blue more and more - I want the challenge and depth and wonder it represents. The Wilding is my attempt to share that part of myself and the art that is made along the way. I’ll be sending out one monthly post - if you’d like to receive it, please feel free to subscribe below. Thank you for reading and being a part of my creative journey.
Stasia.