The heat of the oldest African desert and the freezing temperatures of Nepalese mountains will be presented at a photography slide show at the Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Company tonight (Jan. 28).
Local photographer Dave Humphreys is presenting his recent photo assignment for the tourism board of Namibia, and George Hanzal is showing images from an attempt to create a new ascent route on Annapurna IV.
Humphreys was hired by the Namibia tourism board to take photos of the country, located on the south west tip of Africa.
"It was pretty dreamy," Humphreys said. "They gave me a plane, a pilot and two interpreters."
Those interpreters helped him communicate with desert nomad African tribes like the Himba. It took four hours by plane and three hours by jeep to reach the Himba tribe, which rarely sees white people.
"It felt like it was the end of the world," Humphreys said.
During the five weeks he spent in Africa, Humphreys shot eight hours of video, 50 rolls of film, four rolls of black and white, and 500 digital photos.
His favourite photo was "photographing a lion at sunset. He was very close and the light was just perfect."
Humphreys also spent some time in the Sossuvlei Desert.
"That's the oldest desert in the world," he said. "It has the oldest sand in the world.
"The Sossuvlei is a really phenomenal place."
Not every experience could necessarily be considered phenomenal. Humphreys suffered a broken axle on a jeep in the middle of a desert, and an emergency landing when his plane ran out of gas in the middle of a storm and had to land in the mud - all on the same day.
"The whole plane just sunk into the mud," Humphreys said. "I really liked it because I was searching for some adventure."
Hanzal, an experienced climber, was asked by the Czech national team to join them in an ascent from the south side of Annapurna IV.
'It hasn't been before," Hanzal said. "We didn't know what to expect."
The eight climber team didn't make it to the top. Warmer temperatures created avalanches, and the team was running out of time.
"We just chickened out," Hanzal said. "In a way it was awesome. We had a chance to go somewhere no one had gone before."
He took around 50 per cent of the photos he will be showing.
Humphreys said he saw some of the photos; in one of the photos, Hanzal has frostbite down his face.The photo showing starts at 7:30 in the Brew Pub and tickets are $8.
Humphreys has also been selected to show his photography in a photo exhibition called Out of Bounds: Tales from the Backcountry. The exhibition, a partnership between the Whistler Arts Council and Coast Range Heliskiing features the work of 15 professional and six amateur photographers who have captured B.C.'s backcountry on film.
Maurice Young Millennium Place will host the photographs throughout the month of February with satellite venues in Whistler Village including cafes, retail stores and hotel lobbies featuring additional images by participating photographers.
The public is invited to attend the informal opening reception at Millennium Place on Feb. 4 from 7 to 10 p.m. and to help select the People's Choice photographer. Winners will be announced in late February.
