Galen Rowell

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Galen Rowell
Born
Galen Avery Rowell

August 23, 1940 (1940-08-23)
Oakland, California
DiedAugust 11, 2002(2002-08-11) (aged 61)
Bishop, California
NationalityAmerican
EducationBerkeley High School
Occupation(s)Photographer, Climber

Galen Avery Rowell (August 23, 1940 – August 11, 2002) was a wilderness photographer, adventure photojournalist and

mountaineer.[2] Born in Oakland, California
, he became a full-time photographer in 1972.

Early life and education

Rowell was introduced to the wilderness at a very young age and he completed his first roped climb in

Berkeley High School in 1958, he stayed in Berkeley to study at the University of California but dropped out to pursue climbing.[1]

Career

In 1969, Rowell sold his small automotive business and became a full-time photographer.

National Geographic.[3] The story originated from an invitation by fellow photographer Dewitt Jones to help him on an assignment, when Jones was called away and Rowell suggested an ascent of Yosemite National Park's Half Dome that he documented by himself.[4]
When National Geographic received the pictures, they decided to do a story separate from Jones's, thus Rowell got his start. He pioneered a new kind of photography in which he was not merely an observer, but considered himself a participant in the scenes that he photographed – he considered the landscape part of the adventure, and the adventure part of the landscape.

Rowell won the

World Wildlife Fund
.

Rowell was particularly keen on seeking out and photographing optical phenomena in the natural world. He referred to his landscape photographs as "dynamic landscapes," due to both the fast-changing nature of light and conditions and his energetic pursuit of the best camera position at the optimal moment. Rowell wrote about the quest for such images in Mountain Light, and also in Galen Rowell's Vision (1993) and Inner Game of Outdoor Photography (2001).

A retrospective book on his life, career, and impact on the various worlds he touched was published by Sierra Club Books.[6]

Photography techniques and equipment

From 1968, he used

slide film, beginning with Kodachrome in the 1970s and 1980s and Fuji Velvia
following its introduction in 1990.

Rowell conceived a technical approach of extending the

graduated neutral density filters produced by filter manufacturer Singh-Ray.[7]
They were sold under his name and became a standard for dealing with high contrast scenes.

Galen Rowell mastered the technique of using balanced

color reversal film
.

Death

Rowell, his wife – photographer, author and pilot Barbara Cushman Rowell – pilot Tom Reid, and Reid's friend Carol McAffee were all killed in a plane crash in

Inyo County near Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, at 01:23 am on August 11, 2002. The Rowells were returning from a photography workshop in the Bering Sea area of Alaska on a flight that had originated in Oakland, California. The National Transportation Safety Board determined (NTSB report LAX02FA251) that Reid had only 52 hours in the Aero Commander 690 and only 1.6 hours at night. He was not certified for carrying passengers at night at the time of the accident. The aircraft crashed during the turn from base to final approach for runway 30, within a quarter mile of the runway threshold.[8][9]
The Rowells' business, Mountain Light Photography Gallery in Bishop, California, continued to operate (owned by Galen's children Nicole Ryan and Tony Rowell, and Barbara's brother Robert Cushman) until October 2017, first under General Manager and Curator Justin Black until June 2009, and subsequently under General Manager Kevin Calder until 2017.

Mountaineering achievements

  • More than 100
    Sierra Nevada
  • First one-day ascent of Denali (during which his camera froze)
  • First ski circumnavigation of Denali
  • First one-day ascent of Kilimanjaro
  • First ascent of
    Great Trango Tower
    in Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya
  • Second ascent of the Amne Machin peak in 1981 with Harold Knutsen and Kim Schmitz, reporting its true altitude at 20,610 feet.
  • First ascent of Cholatse, the final major peak climbed in the Everest region
  • First ascents of numerous lesser-known but challenging peaks around the world, including the Andes, Alaska, Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya, Tibet, Nepal, China, Greenland, etc.
  • Oldest person to climb Yosemite's El Capitan in one day at age 57

Awards

Rowell was the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award for 1977.[5]

In 1984, the Sierra Club honored Rowell with the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography. https://www.sierraclub.org/library/collections/fine-art/ansel-adams-award

He was inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame preceding his death in 2002. https://www.https://www.cohof.org/biographies/galen-rowell

Rowell was posthumously inducted into the fellowship of the International League of Conservation Photographers as an Honorary Fellow in 2009.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lewis, Paul (August 14, 2002). "Galen Rowell, Mountaineer And Nature Photographer, 61". The New York Times. p. 20. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  2. ^ Osius, Alison (2009). "The Vertical World of Galen Rowell". Rock and Ice. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  3. ^ Chapman, Glenn (August 13, 2002). "Top nature lensman killed in plane crash". Oakland Tribune. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  4. ISBN 9780982517222
    . Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  5. ^ a b "SIERRA CLUB AWARDS – LIST BY AWARD" (PDF). Sierra Club. May 25, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  6. ISBN 1578051150
    .
  7. ISBN 9780321712905
    .
  8. ^ "LAX02FA251". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  9. ^ Plane Crash Kills Photographers Galen, Barbara Rowell, Environment News Service, Chris Clarke, August 12, 2002. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  10. ^ "Honorary Members". ILCP. Archived from the original on August 24, 2009.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galen_Rowell&oldid=1209714482"