Opening the third Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival will be an exhibition of David Edwards' photography from western Mongolia, "Shamanism Through The Lens."
The exhibition will open at the Friesen Gallery on Thursday, Sept. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. and will remain at the gallery through Oct. 21. The event is free to festival pass holders or a $10 suggested donation.
Edwards has been a photographer for over 20 years and an international guide for 30 years. On a trip to western Mongolia for National Geographic, Edwards was photographing Kazakh eagle hunters, who use golden eagles to capture they quarry, and discovered a shaman.
"I was going to see a shaman about blessing eagles," Edwards said. "She told me to come back and she would introduce me to animals, plants and ceremonies."
Edwards found the shaman to be one of the most fascinating subjects he has come across throughout his journeys and assignments. His show will not only feature the Mongolian landscape and Kazakh eagle hunters, but half of it is dedicated to a shaman he has been photographing for ten years.
"The past and the present are one," Edwards said. "That is what the shamans say. Certain things will definitely happen and other things can't be changed. Shamans guide people to make the right decisions."
Edwards has been featured in numerous national and international publications and his images have appeared in exhibition at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and in museums and galleries across the West.
He is represented by the National Geographic Image Collection in Grazia Neri, Italy and Image State. He has guided on the upper Yangtze River in China and the Bashkaus River in Siberia, and led horse treks through remote areas of northern and western Mongolia.
In addition, Edwards has worked as a photographer and guide in Africa, Alaska, Bolivia, Canada, China, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia and the southwestern United States.
"The trouble with my perspective is I am disappointed," Edwards said. "I thought the world was a little more secure. Now I have to deal with the world as it is. I just want to show what happened and let people draw their own conclusions."
For more details, visit the svspiritualfilmfestival.org.
Shaman Galbaa invoking female lake spirits, Lake Khotan, Bayan Ulgii, W. Mongolia.
