Half a century ago, Idaho’s landscapes and forests were captured by the camera of Audus ‘Red’ Helton. Now, there is an opportunity to see these photographs.

“My Father’s Idaho” opened yesterday at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and continues till Oct. 31. It features photography of the Clearwater River, Highway 12 and the vast wilderness of Idaho from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

However, for Caroline Hicklin, Kathy Cooper and Riska Helton, this really was their father’s Idaho. Their father Audus, a retired professor from the University of Idaho, took these photos several years ago. Helton was born near Bethel, Oklahoma in 1922. In 1951, after receiving his Ph.D. from Oregon State University, he and his wife moved to Moscow, where he then worked for the University of Idaho.

Helton did research as a plant scientist and educator at the university for more than 35 years. He specialized in studying the diseases of fruit trees, and his work brought him to Sunny Slope Fruit Orchards in 1952 and Wilder Hop Farms in 1955. Helton always carried a camera with him in order to document the leaves and symptoms of the trees.

Fishing, hunting and other adventures brought him into the woods of Idaho with his Argus camera and 35 mm Kodachrome film. Helton also began taking his family on outdoor adventures and camping trips and documented the experiences with his camera.

The journey from Helton’s camera to the display of photographs visible today at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce was a long one. It started 14 years ago when Riska Helton, labeled by Kathy Cooper as the artistic sister of the three, went to visit her father.

“In 2001, I traveled to North Idaho to visit my father, and I saw this old photograph of a sweat lodge on his bulletin board and I asked him if he had slides,” Riska said.

Her father responded, “Daughter dear, you know not what you say.” In fact, Helton had more than 2,000 Kodachrome slides of Idaho during the 1950s and ‘60s in his closet preserved in metal boxes and organized.

“All the pictures are iconic,” Riska said. “The show is at the Chamber of Commerce in Moscow with 40 pictures on display but 2,000 in the archive.”

In fact, this is the first time that these photographs are returning home. For the past three and a half years, the photos have been in the Glenns Ferry Historical Museum. Riska Helton had served as director of arts, culture and media at the museum for three and half years.

“The next step is finishing the performance video and music for My Father’s Idaho,” Riska said. She has been putting together a video of her father’s photographs and adding music she created. As a singer, Riska has added her own voice to the movie.

The past few days, the three sisters have been unloading photographs and preparing for the event.

To learn more about My Father’s Idaho, visit their website at http://myfathersidaho.org/MY_FATHERS_IDAH_1./Coming_Home….html.

Reporting by Gator Newell