Rafe Hanson: Rubber Band Camera

Rafe Hanson was born and raised in Sitka. He attended a private Seventh-day Adventist school before earning his GED. His father is Salvage Master Lee Hanson. “I have grown up my entire life in that industry. I’ve worked on my dad’s current tugboat, and he taught me commercial diving.”

That background is closely tied to the subjects he photographs. His work focuses largely on landscapes and seascapes, along with documenting commercial fishing. Hanson has photographed throughout Southeast Alaska, including Baranof Island and Chichagof Island – places he describes simply as “the gorgeous tract of public lands we get to call our backyard.”

Hanson’s entry into photography began early. When he was about 12 or 13, he found an old digital Minolta camera at the White Elephant for three dollars.

“I had to keep the battery compartment closed with rubber bands,” he says. “I loved that camera. It had an excellent zoom and was great for taking pictures of wildlife.”

Since then, he has owned roughly seven cameras, working primarily with Nikon digital single-lens reflex cameras after that first Minolta. He once entered the Harry Race Photo Contest and won in the landscape category, along with an honorable mention in another category. With money earned commercial fishing with his dad, he has been able to update his cameras over time.

Today, Hanson’s day job is with the City and Borough of Sitka electrical department at the Blue Lake hydro plant. “It is shift work. Somebody has to be there 24 hours a day,” he says.

In 2022, Hanson started High Ridge Expeditions, a business that combines guided fly fishing, charter fishing, whale watching, and water taxi service – bringing people anywhere they need to go, including forest service cabins, hot springs, and communities such as Pelican. “I am a very outdoorsy person and wanted to bring that to others,” he says.

Photography has long been integrated into his work and daily life. When he was younger, he describes it as “pretty seamless,” especially while working on the tugboat and documenting fishing.

Hanson notes that his favorite style of photography is street photography, often carrying a camera while hunting or fishing. In the last three years, since having children of his own, balancing photography with family life has become more of a challenge.

Hanson has photographed both the natural landscape and the people who work within it. On his Instagram, he shares underwater photography and videos of sea life, including a giant rock scallop, as well as images of fishermen such as Dave Richey in the wheelhouse of his boat, the F/V Albee Rose. He also captures Sitka street scenes, including a photograph of downtown Sitka just after sunset in April 2025, featuring Ernie’s Old Time Saloon.

Hanson is a published photographer, with work appearing in Pacific Fishing Magazine and National Fisherman. His photograph of his father in diving gear appears on the front cover of the 2026 Sitka Harbor Guide.

He does not typically title his photographs, noting that he might if he were to print them. For now, most of his work is shared online – on his website at rafehansonphoto.squarespace.com, on Facebook @rafehansonphotography and on Instagram @rafe_hanson_photo, which is his most active platform. He can also be reached directly at rafehansonphotography@gmail.com.

“Oddly enough,” he says, “a lot of people know my name but nobody knows what I look like.”