Hapu'u Pulu Metal Print

metal prints hawaii metal prints hawaiian metal prints fern metal prints hapuu metal prints

photographs hawaii photos hawaiian photos fern photos hapuu photos

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The Hāpu'u, a native fern that grows in the rainforest of the Hawaiian Islands and here in our backyard in Volcano, Hawaii, has been used in a number of ways. As the young shoots uncurl they have a fine golden hair that is very soft, almost like velvet. This hair is called pulu and it was collected in the 1800's and used commercially as stuffing for pillows and mattresses. The remenants of an old pulu factory can still be seen on the Napau Crater trail in the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

This young Hapu'u in our backyard will slowly uncurl and grow attached to a two foot young Hapuu fern tree that will eventually grow into a tree reaching heights of 20 to 30 feet and some times taller in the rain forests of Volcano, Hawaii.

I feel my photographs captures and shares my moments of intimacy and the relationship between light, shadow, and the element of composition of my beautifu Hawai’i. As a photographer and a Hawaiian woman I try to convey through my photography the love for my Hawai’i with an understanding of the traditional Hawaiian value, that all natural resources of our environment, the ocean "kai", the land "aina", and the sky "lani", are interrelated and culturally significant to Hawaii and its people. “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” In my photography I try to capture the moments of my life I want to remember. It’s usually something that caught my eye and captured...