✧ NAME: Alaska Tucker ✧ AGE: 27 ✧ BIRTHDAY: March 25, 1990 ✧ GENDER: Female ✧ LOCATION: CBD ✧ TIME IN NOLA: 1 week ✧ OCCUPATION: Freelance photographer, currently working with The Advocate
From the moment four year old Alaska came home with the announcement that she wanted to cut off all her hair, fully prepared to plead her case, Christine and Raymond Tucker got the feeling their youngest daughter was destined to march to the beat of her own drum. From then on, she spent her life unwittingly providing them with endless evidence to back their assumptions. At seven she wondered why they’d never taken her to New York City if they lived so close, asking if they didn’t think that was a wasted opportunity. Then they took her and the gleam in her eyes was all anyone needed to know that it wouldn’t be her last time walking those streets, not if she had anything to do with it. When she was ten, after watching a documentary with her dad, she spent the following months saving all her allowance as an offer to pitch in if they got her a film camera like the one on the screen. The moment she took her first photograph, she was hooked; with the way the camera felt in her hand, with the notion of having captured a moment in time, with not instantly knowing how it would look and having to trust her gut.
As time passed and the fascination she had with the world around her grew, the girl only got bolder. From her many mid-Friday disappearances to Brooklyn and the summer train rides to wherever she could afford, to once hitchhiking most of the way to a concert at only sixteen. It came as no surprise to anyone that, unlike her sister before her, Alaska decided to omit college as a path to follow. Instead the girl packed up a bag of clothes, two of her favorite cameras, and took her college savings along with a check her grandfather left her and used them to kick off her travels. The money in it’s entirety wasn’t much, but she was unwavering in her confidence to make it work. As was true to her nature, the girl didn’t have a plan. She had a list of places accumulated in the back of her mind, but no real order in which to tick them off. Because of things she’d heard in the past, it made sense to make the city of New Orleans her first landing ground. Little did she expect the experience and lessons she would learn.
To say Noah McElroy was her first love, wouldn’t be fair. She’d been in love once before, and it’d been something that would always stick with her. But what she had with the young man from Kentucky was different to what she’d had with the one from her hometown. It was simpler, uncomplicated. To the outside world it might have seemed like they fell too fast, but there was no denying what they shared was serious. In fact, Alaska found herself staying in Louisiana longer than she originally planned. Upon her arrival the young woman had every intention of only stay a few months. Just long enough to experience the city, get a job and save some money, before gathering her things and heading west. Those few months came and went, and it was as though Noah tore up her plans and threw them out the window with little protest from her. Then the day came when he had to leave, and she surprised herself with her willingness to wait for him.
The idea of enrolling in the army was never something her boyfriend kept from her, it was one of the things they talked about the most. Although in her heart she would have liked him to stay, if that was something he wanted and felt the need to do, then who was she to tell him otherwise? It was hard on her at first, not knowing if he would come back, but as she and his sister leaned on one another it became easier to bear. The day Noah returned from his first tour was like feeling oxygen flow through her lungs for the first time in months, everything around them lit up and the two couldn’t be happier. At least that was the case until the night his shaking woke her up. She’d been warned he may not return the same as he’d left, but that was the first sign Alaska was getting to back those claims. After that night she started to notice them more, the subtle changes in his behavior. The day she brought it up was the beginning of a hard struggle between the two, one that only got worse after she found the ring.
Tucked away between one of the sweaters she was borrowing, her discovery of an engagement ring made the world feel like it was spinning. Despite the way things had changed, there had never been a doubt in her mind that Noah loved her. But to see exactly how much, to see he wanted to marry her, that was something she wasn’t prepared for. It would have been kinder to say that it was the thought of him being gone again, or the possibility that they’d gotten lucky with him coming back at all the last time. Although those thoughts did cross her mind, the reality was, the decision Alaska would make had nothing to do with him but rather with the idea of being tied to a single place for the rest of her life. She loved him, so much, but there was still a whole world out there that the young Tucker wanted to explore. Putting that dream on hold for a moment was one thing, but to do it permanently would have been shutting away a large part of who she was. So it was with a heavy heart that she put the ring back in it’s place as though she’d never seen it, asked Noah to stay safe and walked away.
With her time in New Orleans leaving the girl heart broken, she retreated to her safe haven in New York to gather herself once more. Shortly after it was back to a life on the road as Alaska made her way out west to the state of Washington. Getting a job with her sister’s new boss while she was there wasn’t what she intended, but with the money he was paying her it was hard to say no. The owner of an architecture firm, he asked that she take photos of some of his projects to showcase as part of their new advertisements. It held her in one place for two months, but as soon as the older man got what he wanted and she got her check it was off to Brazil. From that point forward, Alaska decided to take her passion and ability with a camera, and use them in freelance work whenever possible. Between the occasional contract and some jobs she took on the side, she would be able to keep seeing more and more of the world. It was when she got to Ireland that a call came in from an area code she hadn’t seen in a long time. A small part of her prepared itself to hear a familiar voice from a life that seemed so long ago. To her surprise it turned out to be one of her sister’s exes, an editor now working for The Advocate, calling about her latest project with the company.
The way Alaska felt most content, most fulfilled, with her photography was when she went about it in the same way she’d started all those years ago; shooting on film. Though she saw the advantages in digital when absolutely necessary, nothing would ever beat analog in her heart. It felt more personal, in every aspect, from the shooting to the development—the time spent in those dark rooms becoming like a meditation. Because of these reasons, she nearly jumped at the offer to go work with the print company, despite it’s location. The idea was to create a series based around the home city of the company, to showcase it through various perspectives. Where Alaska came in was through her camera. They wanted her to show their readers a different point of view of the city, how someone who hadn’t lived there her whole life took it in. The topper was when they agreed to let her do it in the medium she preferred. It was with that green light, that she agreed to return to the States as soon as possible.
Alaska knows what coming back to New Orleans could entail, it was why she was so specific with her requests on the project. If it hadn’t been something she truly wanted, that really ignited an excitement in her—on terms she could work with—then the young woman would not be returning. She’d burned a lot of bridges in her life, but none were ever as hard as the one a younger version of herself had left in ashes. That was why she kept telling herself the same series of words as she packed her bags, rode to the airport, landed back in Louisiana; her time here ends the day the contract does.
Some believe photography is an art form that contradicts itself, if that’s true then it’s no wonder a girl like Alaska is so drawn to it. A walking contradiction from day one, it’s a wonder her parents or friends ever kept up with her. From childhood the youngest Tucker has lived her life with her head in the stars, yet her feet planted on the ground. Confidence for days, she still shies away from showing many people her personal collection of photos. The same way her friendliness shines through in her smile, she has been never one to hold back from telling someone if she has a problem with them. Then, of course, there is the energy she has about her. She loves being surrounded by people, meeting new ones everywhere she goes, but too much too fast can leave her drained. Something that never changes or falters is how passionate she is in every aspect of her life, it’s also the one thing to she can guarantee she got from being a Tucker.
ALASKA’S FACECLAIM IS PHOEBE TONKIN AND IS PORTRAYED BY CAROLINE.