This is an extra special photograph of Staqeya, the Lone Wolf of Tl’ches, or Discovery Island, carved by good friend and artist Kent Laforme.
Sacred to the local indigenous tribes, Staqeya was tragically shot and killed by a hunter not long after he swam back to the mainland. The portal represents a presence through an absence and a tunnel of light and lens for one to gaze out towards Tl’ches, where the wolf once lived on traditional territory of the Songhees.
For me, this photo symbolizes the rising of Staqeya’s spirit.
As for capturing the sun rising directly through the porthole, I have to give full credit to another good friend, (and fellow photographer) Joel Rushworth, for realizing that the monument was positioned pretty much on the East-West axis and was able to calculate when the stars would align, or in this case our sun, within a few days of capturing this shot. Coincidentally, the sun rose as you see it on the very day of the monument’s unveiling, which makes this capture even more special to me and the artist.
If you happen to live or will be visiting Victoria one day, you can find the monument at Cattle Point Park. Once there, you’ll be delighted to discover many other mini carvings hidden all around the monument adding even more to this remarkable story of Staqeya.