Grant Hill’s passion for the natural world around him is on display at The Space Above in Quesnel.
His photographs of plants, animals, water and more all captured in B.C. will be up for viewing until Friday, August 20 at the artisan area found above Books and Company on Reid Street.
“Into the forest, I go to lose my mind and find my soul, and that pretty much sums it up,” Hill said, quoting John Muir.
“My past jobs were a conflict of interest in the corporate world, and now I find myself doing this, and I’m having much more fun and my stress levels are way reduced even though I’m working just as hard if not harder.”
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Hill’s brother is also a professional wildlife photographer. Hill recalled in his early teens hauling photo gear into the mountains for his brother, who was five years older than him.
Today, due to wildfire smoke, Hill spends his mornings at his shop east of Quesnel on the Barkerville Highway where makes bat houses, bird feeders and more.
In the afternoons if the skies are relatively clear he’ll head out to the bush or take to his bike.
“It’s just one way to spend time in nature,” Hill said of photography.
“It can take me hours to walk one or two kilometres because I’m looking at absolutely everything. There’s so much to take pictures of from snails on the ground, to the birds in the air, and the bears in the trees. Even if you’re walking briskly, you can miss all of that, so it’s just who I am. It’s part of me.”
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Amid his displayed photographs, Hill will also provide at least three presentations, including looking at ‘nature naturally.’
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 28 he will talk bats, and on Wednesday, August 4 bird feeding.
A presentation by Hill on Wednesday, July 21 focused on the decline of birds locally and globally.
Hill, 58, said most his age who enjoy nature have witnessed significant declines in all species.
“Ironically in past generations prior to the 70s, you would never really notice a decline in animals in one lifetime,” he said.
“It was relatively slow, but it’s ramped up so fast now that we’re seeing mass die-offs and a huge reduction of the population worldwide.”
Hill believes some of the problems result from the human population, climate change, and clear-cut logging.
He said he also believes, however, there are solutions.
“The better part of 8-billion people have to be in agreement with this to affect change,” he said.
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