Keep the Country, Country…
I created a body of photographic images that took a visual stance against the proposed expansion of the Turtle Bay Resort and the lands that are owned by Oaktree Capital Managment. This unique stretch of beach exsists on the North Shore of O’ahu. The plans to expand came to light over three decades ago, but didn’t have the financial backers and the correct avenue to proceed. Being of Hawai’ian ethnicity and growning up in Hawai’i, i’ve seen first hand how it’s lush beauty has been the cause of the catastrophic population increase and the draining of our resources and disposal of our native lands. Obviously it’s not just Hawai’i that has this dillema, but it is shared with the world in our ever increasing drive to do things “bigger and better” and to let “nothing stand in the way.”
I hiked around the Kahuku/Kawela Bay area and created images that offered the viewer a look into the rawness of the North Shore and also intended to evoke a certain emotional level over the natural beauty that the ‘aina embodies. I shot my landscapes in a way to not only showcase the lands, but force the viewer to realize what would be lost if the expansion were to go through, and at the same time reflect on areas that are already lost forever to overcrowding and the inevitable industry that we’ve created.
The proposed plans would transform the North Shore into the second Waikiki of O’ahu. Just based on the lack of infrastructure alone, the expansions plans should be reconsidered in great detail. When will the greed stop? Can’t people realize what we have here in paradise? Wake up people… What’s next? Homes on the Mokulua Islands in Lanikai? We need to cherish what we have and break out of the mindset of this “money grubbing” and selfish way of looking at the our island home. “Malama kekahi i kekahi ame i ka ‘aina”….
posted by Sam Richey