High Angle Photography Clinic
On Saturday, August 5th, myself and 7 others took part in the first High Angle Photography Clinic with Eva Capozzola. One of the many great community initiatives supported by Arc’teryx Alberta as part of Go Climb Week, this clinic allowed us to learn how to safely set up rigs to produce climbing photography.
We were joined by climbers Sasha Yasinski & Chelsea Williams, ACMG guides Phil Widmer & Mike Wong, as well as Anthony Walsh, digital editor for Climbing magazine.
The day started early, with my alarm set for 4:30am. It’s been a while since I’ve had an alpine start, and despite having already spent the previous three days on set for a campaign shoot, I got out of bed bright-eyed, excited for the day ahead. I met Pauline at her place, and together, we collected Bea en route to Lake Louise. We were to meet everyone in the parking lot for 6:30am to avoid the usual mad scramble to find parking in the iconic, popular tourist location, on the Saturday of a summer long weekend.
After some introductions and general housekeeping, we made our way to the crag. Our energetic chatter could be heard all along the lakeshore, livening up the calm, early morning ambience. It was a sign of a great day ahead with great people.
When we got to the back of the lake, Sasha & Chelsea began setting up for a fixed line at Wicked Gravity (5.11a sport), while Phil & Eva gave us instructions for the day. With that, it was time for us to start, with Johanna being the first to jug up on a fixed line. We watched intently, occasionally throwing out words of encouragement in between conversations and snapping photos.
After Johanna, it was my turn. Eva showed me how to set up, using my belay device, a jumar, and a pulley. It took me a few tries to understand how to hoist myself up, and it was slow going to start. Jugging up was a lot of effort in and of itself, my body learning a new pattern of movement. Every few metres, I would pause to tie overhand knots on my ropes, welcoming the small break. Once I was finally high enough to be able to shoot and be out of her way, Chelsea started to climb, while I photographed Mike, already three-quarters of the way up on the neighbouring route (Colloidal Impact, 5.12b sport). I documented everything: the view of the lake as Mike made his way to the crux; everyone gathered below me, my ropes and my gear out of focus in the foreground; Chelsea’s chalky fingers and the emotion in her face.
Days like this, where all my passions intersect, leave my heart and my creative soul whole and fulfilled. As someone who has a passion for climbing, photography, and community, it filled my cup to spend a whole day outside with like-minded people. I may have been physically exhausted by the end of our 12 hour day, but to be able to create, experiment and learn something new reignited my stoke for this sport and for documenting it.
Climbing, like many other recreational mountain sports, is an industry dominated by Caucasian, cisgendered, heteronormative males. Whilst we are starting to see more and more females, BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ folks entering sports like climbing, skiing, and more, the reality is that we are still very much the minority in these spaces. There are even fewer of us whose names are listed as the photographer, videographer, producer or director in publications or films. It becomes easy to feel as if you do not belong, or that you will never “make it”, if you never see other folks like you out there. As someone who is part of multiple marginalised groups, I know first-hand how much representation matters—which is why events like this will always have a very special place in my heart.
Many thanks to Eva, Phil, Mike, Sasha, Chelsea & Anthony for their teachings and guidance, as well as to Arc’teryx Alberta for their ongoing support of initiatives like this in our community, so that those of us who have experienced barriers to access can have the opportunity to feel included in the outdoors.
