5,000 slides from photographer's collection missing
Michael Wilcox spent months sitting in silence among needling no-see-ums and thirsty mosquitos and under torrents of rain just to photograph the moment a flower becomes art. The slides he took on a two-month backpacking trip captured his passion and pride for posterity until one day a large chunk of his life's work disappeared.
"I went a little mental that day," said Wilcox.
Somewhere in the process of moving from Idaho to Juneau last summer, Wilcox lost a box filled with about 5,000 nature slides he compiled on a two-month trip through the West. Though still an amateur photographer, Wilcox has an extensive portfolio and has been asked to deliver several lectures with nature clubs across the Pacific Northwest, including some at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.
Professional movers packed up the family's things and moved them to Juneau in early June. The Wilcox's belongings, along with other people's things, were unloaded into a Juneau warehouse, he said. The family took with them to their rental home only the things immediately necessary for making a home, such as furniture and personal items. Wilcox's slides were left in the warehouse.
In early August, the rest of their belongings were delivered to their home. However, it wasn't until a few weeks ago, Wilcox said, as he prepared for a slide show at the visitor center, that he realized a box of his best slides was missing.
"My wife and I turned the house upside-down and sideways-up looking for them," he said. "I went to the storage place twice just to make sure. I unpacked and repackaged everything we still had in boxes. They just weren't there.''
Wilcox said it's possible someone else may have inadvertently received his box and hopes that person still has it.
"I really hope it hasn't been thrown away," he said. "I'd be more than willing to adequately compensate the person who returns them to me."
Wilcox said he's willing to shell out a $500 reward for the safe return of the box.
"You can't reproduce these photos," he said. "A lot of them were taken on a backpacking trip, sometimes 20 miles off the trail. ... These slides aren't so much for me as for my wife, my kids, my family and the community at large.
"It's a spiritual thing for me in a way. ... I hope people take away (from the slides) the same sense of awe and passion for nature that I have. The beauty and mystery of nature is there for us to share and I love sharing that with people."
The box may be packed inside another container and holds the developed 35-mm slides and possibly some small books. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the slides can contact Wilcox at 789-2714.