An award-winning photographer from Swift Current had his entire life upended by a theft in Winnipeg.
Craig Hilts, owner of Prairie Fire Photography and professional adventure photographer, had his Jeep stolen along with all his equipment inside it while he was at a remote location photographing polar bears. Hilts described the tri[ptohavebeenoneofthebestifnotthepinnacleofhisexperiencesasaphotographer[ptohavebeenoneofthebestifnotthepinnacleofhisexperiencesasaphotographer
When he got back to his hotel in Winnipeg, he discovered that his vehicle was gone.
“I had two (individuals) steal my Jeep with all of my camera equipment,” said Hilts. “All of my gear. What’s worse is I had three backups of all my images and all of them were stolen and I basically lost everything.”
Most of Hilts’s collection, which he estimated to total $40,000, was inside the vehicle. Cameras, bags, lenses, SD Cards, hard drives, his laptop and more were in the vehicle.
He responded initially by asking if his vehicle had been towed, fearing he had simply parked in the wrong spot. After it was clarified the vehicle hadn’t been towed, he contacted the local police.
Hilts was able to speak the the police and eventually was reminded about his Apple AirTags in his luggage in the vehicle. Using the tool, he was able to track the vehicle and his belongings down to an apartment. Once there, he was able to locate his Jeep due to its unique colour.
“There was a guy sitting in it!” said Hilts. “And so I go running back to get my phone. I called the police and they said we’re only about a minute away. They actually arrested the guy in the vehicle.”
Even though it was estimated by police that his vehicle was only in possession of the original thieves for four hours, it had been switched over to Manitoba license plates and had the roof rack stripped off.
Virtually none of Hilts’s belongings were still in the vehicle. Inside were other stolen property and tools. Police informed Hilts that his $5,000 cameras had more than likely been immediately sold for no more than $50.
“It’s been pretty devastating,” said Hilts. “To go from one of the most amazing experiences of my life to one of my worst in two days is pretty hard.”
Hilts is now trying to locate his missing equipment. This event happened back on March 11, meaning he has for weeks now been browsing Winnipeg and area buy and sell pages, Kijiji, and other online purveyors. He has also contacted every camera retailer in Winnipeg to provide them with the VINs of his cameras and lenses, hoping that if they come in on consignment, he may have them returned.
“It’s been pretty frustrating,” said Hilts. “Insurance has been a little bit of a tough experience, with realizing how little of your stuff is covered, even though you might think it is.”
Hilts says the individual who had his Jeep is not talking with investigators. He has also reached out to Canon, the company from which he purchased most of his photography equipment, hoping they would perhaps sell him new gear at cost. Sadly, he has had no luck.
“I’ve bought one camera and one lens that’ll get me back into my storm season,” said Hilts. “At least I can, get back out and do some storm chasing, but it is tough.”
Hilts’s daughter launched him a GoFundMe page, trying to raise the money it will take to rebuild his collection. However, what he has built up over the last 20 years is not just the cameras and lenses, but the moments.
“It wasn’t the camera equipment that hurt the most,” said Hilts. “It was the loss of those images because those were literally once-in-a-lifetime pictures.”
Hilts was informed that at least one of his hard drives was recovered. It was found by police smashed on the side of a road. Hilts has sent it to a recovery centre in Ontario, hoping to get back the stored images that he makes his living with.
“I had to pay almost $2,000 to have even the chance to get the images back,” said Hilts. “It’s been at this data recovery lab for about a month. I still haven’t heard if they’ve been able to recover the images.”
Hilts won the ExploreSask photo contest in 2020 and captured the famous lightning shot over Mosaic Stadium in 2019. His iconic photos have captured both the raging storms of Saskatchewan and provided windows into the most remote of Canadian wildlife.
If anyone would like to help Hilts, they can find the link to his GoFundMe here. Alternatively, Hilts is still selling what prints he has. His page contains links to his store, where people can support his work directly.
