A kalo farmer in neighboring Wainiha Valley, Papa Tony often hired Campers to work his lo’i. As the Camp’s infamous water woman, Bobo Bollin, says in The Edge of Paradise, “Back then it was hard to earn money. You could be a taro farmer or a taro farmer."
That was until the Campers started growing marijuana. Almost everything about the hippies was anathema to the locals. Everything but one thing: taro farming was always a struggle, and, like other rural locals, some of the deeply conservative farmers teamed up with their young “indentured servants” to grow pakalolo (“crazy grass,” i.e. marijuana). These young haole might have been dumb, but they did have a crop that made sense to these traditional hardheaded sons-of-the-soil. While some local farmers with connections to the Honolulu mafia (usually those supplying cocks to the fighting pits on Oahu) had grown pakalolo before the hippies arrived, these young haole introduced new, more potent, and higher-yielding varieties, along with scion propagation that guaranteed seedless hermaphrodites, and an almost limitless Mainland market. Previously struggling local farmers and ranchers were soon buying new trucks and tractors and making trips to Las Vegas.
From the 2020 LA ART Show Limited Edition collection of archival digital prints signed, titled, numbered, and dated by the photographer, these wood-framed photographs are approximately 29 x 23-inches and meet all Library of Congress standards with non-glare, UV protected Museum Glass over 100% Cotton RagMat and backing board. The collection is a limited edition of twelve with several pieces already acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Stanford University as well as private galleries and collectors. Wehrheim's historic Taylor Camp photos are the most complete and evocative documentary of a sixties and seventies counter-culture community and represent "the ultimate hippie fantasy".
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