Tattooing became an itch Roger Sparks couldn’t scratch after a particularly grueling battle in the mountains of Afghanistan. What was the most intense combat of his career ended in a twist of fate when he met a group of men who helped him discover tattooing as a means of healing from the trauma.
He learned to tattoo and opened up shop out of his Eagle River home. Now, with every moment of free time he can spare, Roger is paying the gift forward by tattooing others working through their own battles.
Video: Kaysie Ellingson
Music: Starship Amazing
Photos courtesy of Roger Sparks
Kaysie Ellingson got her start as a video producer while attending the University of Southern California for her Master’s Degree in journalism. What started out as a pursuit to become an international reporter for papers became a desire to produce documentaries.While at USC she took on many video projects ranging from various freelancing gigs to starting a web series, ClefCity, where viewers could catch interviews with popular (not mainstream) musicians. But it was her work at IMPACT, the university’s video newsmagazine, that had the heaviest hand in propelling her into video production. She graduated in May 2014 and having never been to Alaska, moved up in the winter of 2015 to work at Alaska Public Media as a video producer.One random bit of information is that prior to graduate school Ellingson worked as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Kazakhstan. Some of her fondest memories involve drinking fermented horse milk, testing out how many people can actually fit into a car and of course entertaining her students with her horrible Kazakh speaking skills. She hopes to return someday soon. In the meantime she is enjoying the similar climate of Alaska.Kellingson (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8419 | About Kaysie
