What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Of course, my greatest achievement is my son and daughter, they trump everything else.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Financially free to do want I want but I guess everyone has that same version of happiness.
What is your current state of mind?
Wow, that is a loaded question. Let me just say my current state of mind is exceptional.
What is your favorite occupation?
When I was in my early teens, I was a farm hand on a dairy farm for a couple of years, I loved it.
What is your most treasured possession?
My health…
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife.
What is your favorite journey?
I don’t have one specific journey, but I love road trips and exploring new communities with my wife.
What is your most marked characteristic.
I guess this would be my ability to trouble shoot and solve problems.
When and where were you the happiest?
I have many moments of happiness, when and where is difficult to answer.
What is it that you most dislike?
Pushy people.
What is your greatest fear?
Rats.
What is your greatest extravagance?
It would have to be a 1939 Chevrolet I purchased a few years ago.
Which living person do you most despise?
His first initial is the letter D, and his last initial is T.
What is your greatest regret?
Not focusing on balance throughout my life, I now know with regret that I missed out on so much.
Which talent would you most like to have?
A photographic memory.
Where would you like to live?
I’m very happy where I live on Vancouver Island and cannot imagine moving.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Living in a war-torn country.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Sometimes I get caught up on a project and I don’t pick up on the clues that it is time to stop and be more attentive to my wife’s needs.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Selfishness.
What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
John Steinbeck
Whose are your heroes in real life?
Zelensky
Which living person do you most admire?
My wife.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Assertiveness.
On what occasions do you lie?
Sometimes when ask how busy I am right now, I respond with very. This is not always true.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“Give me a break” is the one my wife despises the most.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I think I could stand lose a few pounds; it would be very satisfying.
What are your favorite names?
Of course, I better say “Dixie”, she will be reading this but I use to know a woman and her name was Tuesday, I took it was cool.
How would you like to die?
Peacefully but not prolonged.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A confident, inquisitive powerful trickster, the Raven.
What is your motto?
Knowledge Wisdom Truth
Gerald (Tony) Fuller is a tribal member of the Snuneymuxw (Coast Salish Nation) of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC Canada. Born in Campbell River and raised at Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island. Gerald grew up with the beaches, forests and creeks as his playground, today Gerald lives on Little Mountain overlooking the Salish Sea.
He was raised by a very artistic and talented mother who specialized in oil painting of contemporary coastal scenery. She would often hold art classes within the family home and as a child Gerald was being introduced to the composition, structure and techniques in most mediums.
Life obligations made focusing on his passion impossible but over time he became a self-studied photographer and was inspired by the works and writings of Freeman Patterson and Ansel Adams.
It is through his unique composition and style of photographic art that Gerald brings new life and excitement to the sometimes-over-looked artistry, mythology and ancestral connections that surrounds us in the Pacific Northwest.
In his early years Gerald worked exclusively with Kodachrome 64 and when the age of digital photography arrived, he dropped his old gear and invested in a 35mm digital camera and various lenses; this changed everything.
Apart from his photographic art Gerald indulges in illustrated artwork and is experimenting with combining both forms of media in digital form. Gerald is currently working on completing an Indigenous Community Entrepreneurship program though the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. This opportunity will provide a foundation from which he can promote his art universally.
Gerald’s ultimate plan is to travel all areas of the Pacific Northwest from Washington State though British Columbia to Alaska documenting and photographing each pole but also researching the back stories of the carvers and the vision that inspired them.
Whether poles are on public lands or reservation, they have a relatively short life expectancy and will eventually be laid down though Ceremony. In some respects, this art form is continually being reborn, or recreated by new artists or family members of the original carver.
His plan is to create a book or books to document his photographs and stories. Gerald’s unique photography has been collected by business owners, private collectors and admirers all over the world.
Gerald Fuller
