Benutzer:Siebengang/Work/Galen Rowell

Galen Avery Rowell (* 23. August 1940 in Oakland (Kalifornien); † 11. August 2002 in Bishop (Kalifornien)) war ein bedeutender amerikanischer Naturfotograf und Bergsteiger. Sein Arbeitsstil mit leichter Fotoausrüstung und dadurch auch in extremen Regionen sehr beweglich auf Motivsuche prägte sowohl sein Werk als auch die Arbeitsweise vieler Naturfotografen der letzten Jahrzehnte.

Leben

Galen Rowell ist der Sohn eines Professors und einer Cellistin und wuchs in Berkeley (Kalifornien) auf. Schon bevor er Laufen gelernt hatte nahmen ihn seine Eltern mit auf Touren in die kalifornischen Berge und im Rahmen von Unternehmungen des Sierra Clubs begann er im Alter von zehn Jahren mit dem Klettern und Bergsteigen. Mit sechzehn kletterte er seine ersten Routen im Yosemite Valley und im Laufe der folgenden fünfzehn Jahren gelangen ihm über 100 Erstbesteigungen und neue Kletterrouten in Yosemite und High Sierra. Um seine Eindrücke an andere weitergeben zu können begann er XXXX bald XXXX mit dem Fotografieren.

Nach seinem Schulabschluss 1958 an der Berkeley High School und einem zugunsten des Bergsteigens abgebrochenen Physikstudium an der University of California hielt er sich neben dem Bergsteigen und Fotografieren zunächst als Automechaniker über Wasser. Im Jahr 1972 verkaufte er seine Autowerkstatt und arbeitete fortan als Fotograf. Eine offizielle fotografische Ausbildung ist Rowell nie durchlaufen.

Ein gutes Jahr später veröffentlichte Galen Rowell seine erste Fotoreportage für National Geographic: die Titelgeschichte Climbing Half Dome the Hard Way in der Juni-Ausgabe 1974. Ursprünglich sollte Rowell für die Reportage dem Fotografen Dewitt Jones assistieren, der dann allerdings verhindert war. Als Rowells Bilder der Redaktion vorlagen wurde beschlossen, sie für eine eigene Reportage zu verwenden.

“My interest in photography did not begin with a burning desire to see the world through a camera. It evolved through an intense devotion to wilderness that eventually shaped all parts of my life and brought them together. I began to express this devotion in a physical way through climbing and hiking, and in words through lectures and articles.”

„Mein Interesse für die Fotografie fing nicht mit dem brennenden Wunsch an, die Welt durch eine Kamera zu sehen. Es entwickelte sich durch eine starke Hingabe für die Wildnis, die zuletzt alle Teilbereiche meines Lebens formte und verband...“

– Galen Rowell

Galen Rowell fotografierte insgesamt neun (TODO: zehn mit der posthum veröffentlichten Chiru-Antilopen-Reportage) Reportagen für National Geographic (Quelle: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0814_020814_rowell2.html) und veröffentlichte zahlreiche Artikel in namhaften Zeitschriften wie Life, Sports Illustrated, Audobon und Outdoor Photographer, sowie etliche Bücher (siehe Bibliografie).

Bergsteigen und Fotografie waren für Rowell eng verbunden und er prägte eine neue Art der Landschafts- und Naturfotografie: Rowell arbeitete mit einer leichten Kameraausrüstung, die es ihm ermöglichte, sich schnell und flexibel auch in schwierigem Gelände zu bewegen – immer auf der Suche nach dem besten Licht und den interessantesten Blickwinkeln für seine dynamischen Landschaftsaufnahmen. Er sah sich selbst nicht nur als Beobachter sondern als aktiver Teilnehmer an seinen Motiven (participatory photography), die Landschaft als Teil des Naturerlebnisses und das Naturerlebnis als Teil seiner Landschaftsbilder.

“The publication of Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape in 1986 put my philosophy on the line with the story behind my work. Before Mountain Light the many magazines I had worked for never let me say what really motivated my work, and how different my style of participatory photography is compared to that of an observer with a camera who is not part of the events being photographed. It is the difference between a landscape viewed as scenery from a highway turnout and a portrait of the earth as a living, breathing being that will never look the same twice.”

– Galen Rowell

Dieser besondere Arbeitsstil mündete in die Veröffentlichung seines bekanntestem Buches: Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape, einem der einflussreichsten Bücher über Landschaftsfotografie überhaupt.

Nevertheless, Galen did have a mischievous and humble streak and might have stumbled in the race towards success in a very competitive world if he had not teamed up with Barbara Cushman more than 20 years ago.

Im Jahr 1981 lernten sich Galen Rowell und Barbara Cushman kennen, eine Marketing-Direktorin der Firma The North Face. Das Paar heiratete wenige Monate später (Quelle: http://rowellaward.com/rowells.htm). Zusammen gründeten sie die Firma Mountain Light Photography, die unter anderem eine Bildagentur und eine Galerie betreibt. Das Paar hat zwei Kinder, Nicole Ryan und "Tony" Edward Anthony Rowell.

Barbara had worked as marketing director for The North Face, one of the world's leading outdoor equipment and clothing manufacturers. After she married Galen, she devoted her tireless energy to building a business they would call Mountain Light. In her own way, she was Galen's equal and she was vital in his later successes in publishing, lecturing, exhibits, and other endeavors that helped to establish him as arguably the most famous outdoor photographer since Ansel Adams.

Barbara had a mind of her own. On one assignment, the editors at National Geographic said that they liked some of her pictures of Islamic women better than the ones Galen had taken!

Barbara was also flamboyant. At various times she drove a pink Porsche, rode well-bred horses, and became a master pilot, flying a small plane from California to the tip of South America—a journey about which she had written a book due to be published next fall. She was not, however, at the controls of the chartered plane that inexplicably crashed so short of the runway in the place that Galen, Barbara, and I all loved so much.

"An accomplished photographer and successful businesswoman, Barbara Cushman Rowell nonetheless felt that she was living in the shadow of her famous husband, photographer and mountaineer Galen Rowell. She decided to take stock of her life, listed her personal goals and merged three of them—learning to fly, learning to speak Spanish fluently, and exploring South America—into the adventure of a lifetime. She flew her own single-engine Cessna 206 on an amazing 25,000-mile-journey that included instrument failures, political coups, tropical storms—and at one point, the need to fly herself to and from an oral surgeon after a rafting accident. Join her as she shares the inspiring tale of this inner and outer flight of self-discovery." (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0814_020814_rowell1_2.html)

TODO Gegen Ende seines Lebens konzentrierte sich Rowell zunehmend wieder auf seine Heimat Kalifornien.

“Although I plan to continue traveling to and photographing exotic places indefinitely, I have a confession to make. I~Rve known all along that more of what I am seeking in the wilds is right here in my home state of California than anywhere else on earth. But there~Rs a ~QCatch-22.~R I couldn~Rt say it with authority until I had all those journeys to Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, China, South America, Antarctica, and Alaska behind me. (G.R., 2001)”

– Galen Rowell

Am 11. August 2002 waren Galen Rowell und seine Frau auf der Rückkehr von einem Foto-Workshop in Alaska (Bering-See) in Zusammenarbeit mit Frans Lanting (XXXX Referenz: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0814_020814_rowell2_2.html XXXX), als ihr Flugzeug bei Bishop (Kalifornien) abstürzte. Das Ehepaar, der Pilot Tom Reid und seine Freundin Carol McAffee (Barbara Rowell flog nicht selbst) kamen bei dem Unfall in der Nähe des Inyo-County-Flugplatzes ums Leben.

Werk

Fotografie

Seine besten Bilder zeigen ein unerwartetes Zusammenspiel von Licht und Motiv, scheinbar einmalige Momente, eingefangen TODO by combining imagination and action with a clear understanding of outdoor optical phenomena. Solche Bilder bezeichnete Rowell selbst als dynamic landscapes.

Über die Bildagentur von Mountain Light Photography sind etwa 400.000 von Galen Rowells Bildern kommerziell verfügbar.

His favorite images of people were those that show them in delicate harmony with a carefully selected part of their environment.

"Galen was one of the most experienced, one of the most well-known, and one of the best photographers in that particular genre—the adventure type of photography," said National Geographic Photographic Senior Editor Kent Kobersteen.

"I heard that Galen shot his first pictures with a Kodak "Instamatic." What made his work unique was the he was also one of the best rock climbers and mountaineers in North America. He pointed, clicked, and came back with images that were so stunning that in 1972, National Geographic's legendary Director of Photography, Robert Gilka, hired him to photograph a groundbreaking ascent up the huge, dead-vertical north face of Yosemite's famous Half Dome monolith." (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0814_020814_rowell2.html)

He pioneered a new kind of photography in which he was not merely an observer, but rather he 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. From 1968 on, he used 35mm Nikon cameras and lenses almost exclusively for their portability. His main media choice was slide film, beginning with Kodachrome in the 70's and 80's and Fuji Velvia following its introduction in 1990.

Rowell conceived a technical approach of extending the dynamic range of film. He developed a graduated gradient neutral density filter and had them produced by a filter manufacturer. They were sold under his name and became a standard for improving the dynamic range of film.

He was very well-known as a photographer, and pioneered the art of adventure photography: Ansel Adams considered Rowell to be his most likely successor, and he was often referred to as the Ansel Adams of color photography.Vorlage:Fact He won the Ansel Adams award for wilderness photography in 1984. He had numerous photographic assignments for Life, National Geographic Magazine, Outdoor Photographer, and various other publications. Rowell was also a highly regarded writer on subjects ranging from photography, humanitarian and environmental issues, human visual cognition, and mountaineering, publishing numerous magazine articles and eighteen books in his lifetime. His In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods (1977) is considered a classic of mountaineering literature, and his 1986 book Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape is one of the best selling how-to photo books of all time. Also an energetic advocate for the causes in which he believed, Rowell served on multiple advisory and directors' boards for organizations ranging from the Committee of 100 for Tibet to 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 ~Sdynamic landscapes,~T 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 his books Mountain Light, Galen Rowell's Vision, and Inner Game of Outdoor Photography.

A major retrospective book on his life, career, and impact on the various worlds he touched has been published by Sierra Club books: Galen Rowell: A Retrospective (ISBN 1578051150).

Rowell's work is on display at the Mountain Light Gallery, in the Eastern Sierra Nevada town of Bishop.

Berühmte Fotografien

• Lenticular cloud over the Owens River, Eastern Sierra (California, 1991)
• Clearing storm over El Capitan, Yosemite (California, 1973)
• Split rock and cloud, Eastern Sierra (California, 1976)
• Valley of Ten Peaks, Banff, Canadian Rockies (Canada, 1973)
• Rainbow over the Potala Palace, Lhasa (Tibet, 1981)

Bücher

• The Vertical World of Yosemite. Wilderness Press (1974). Galen Rowells erstes Buch, vergriffen.
• In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods. Sierra Club Books (1977 und 1986). Vergriffen.
• High and Wild, Sierra Club Books, 1979
• Many People Come, Looking, Looking. Mountaineers Books (1980). Vergriffen
• Alaska: Images of the Country. Photographs by Galen Rowell, text by John McPhee. Sierra Club Books (1981)
• Mountains of the Middle Kingdom. Sierra Club Books (1983)
• Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape. Sierra Club Books (1995 – 10th Anniversary Second Edition; First published 1986)
• The Art of Adventure. Photographs by Galen Rowell. Collins (1989); Sierra Club (1993)
• My Tibet. Photographs by Galen Rowell, text by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. UC Press (1990)
• Galen Rowell’s Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography. Sierra Club Books (1993)
• Poles Apart: Parallel Visions of the Arctic and Antarctic. University Press (1995)
• Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area. Text by Galen Rowell, photographs by Galen Rowell with Michael Sewell, foreword by David Brower. Sierra Club Books (1997)
• Coastal California, Compass Guides, 1998
• Living Planet: Preserving the Edens of the Earth. Photographs by Galen Rowell, Frans Lanting and David Doubilet, foreword by Walter Cronkite. WWF / Crown / Random House (1999)
• North America the Beautiful. AAA Books (2001)
• Galen Rowell’s Inner Game of Outdoor Photography. W. W. Norton (2000)
• The Yosemite. Photographs by Galen Rowell, text by John Muir. Yosemite Assoc. (2001)
• Flying South: A Pilot’s Inner Journey. Text by Barbara Cushman Rowell, Photographs by Galen Rowell & Barbara Cushman Rowell. Ten Speed Press (2002)
• California the Beautiful: Spirit and Place. Photographs by Galen Rowell. Welcome Books (2002)
• High & Wild: Essays & Photographs on Wilderness Adventures. Edited by Galen Rowell, Introduction by Robert Redford. Spotted Dog Press (2002) (2nd edition)

• Under the Midnight Sun: The Ascent of John Denver Peak and the Search for the Northernmost Point of Land on Earth. By John A. Jancik, Steve Gardiner & Javana M. Richardson, includes photographs by Galen Rowell. Stars End Creation, Inc. (2003)
• Yosemite & The Wild Sierra. Photographs by Galen Rowell, edited by Jennifer Barry. Sasquatch Books (2003)
• Fog City: Impressions of the San Francisco Bay Area in Fog. By Galen Rowell, with photography by Galen Rowell and Harold Gilliam, edited by Jennifer Barry. Sasquatch Books (2003)
• The Big Open: On Foot Across Tibet’s Chang Tang. By Rick Ridgeway, photographs by Galen Rowell, Foreword by Conrad Anker. National Geographic (2004)
• Galen Rowell: A Retrospective. Sierra Club Books (2006)

Fehlt:

• Throne Room of the Mountain Gods, a revealing, soul-searching account of an unsuccessful American expedition to K2

Climbing and adventuring accomplishments

• More than 100 first ascents of technical climbs in the Sierra Nevada
• First one-day ascent of Denali (on 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
• First 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
• First ascent of A'nyê Maqên

Weblinks

• Vorlage:PND
• Mountain Light Photography
• Galen Rowell's Books
• The Rowell Award
• Galen A. Rowell, On and Around Anyemaqen
• 50 for Tibet
• The Rowell Fund for Tibet
• Unfallbericht des Flugzeugabsturzes (englisch)