November 2025 /The Big Island for Saveur Magazine
Four days, 500 miles. We call the Big Island Big for a reason. I shot this little travel spread for SAVEUR when I was visiting my family on the Big Island over Thanksgiving. What a whirlwind. It was a treat (and a challenge) to see the island from the perspective of a visitor - at least that was the attempt.
I have five generations on my mom's side on the Big Island beginning at around 1899 when they emigrated from the Azores for work like many Portuguese people did. I have spent much of my life on the island in one form or another - visitor, local, past life, you name it, the connection is deep. And, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes complicated. It's not easy to photograph a backyard you know so well. Not to mention I'm extremely protective of the islands and had many hesitations about doing a shoot that could encourage tourism.
In the end, I got to see a side of the island and her people that I'm not usually privy to. The shoot was supposed to be about the food, Saveur is a food magazine, after all. But when I asked the island to reveal herself to me, the shoot became about the people. Because Hawai'i, the 'aina, is always about the people. You can't have one without the other. Spending time with all who I met and photographed, well, that alone was worth the price of admission. More can be seen here.