Customer Reviews

Galen Rowell: A Retrospective

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I had the privilege of taking a photography class from the renowned Galen Rowell a few years before his tragic death in 2002. I remember very well how he told of his painstaking effort in racing across a plateau to capture the end of a rainbow as it looked like it was landing on the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. His images have inspired me to take my travel photography more seriously, even if his techniques went well over my head. Fortunately, the Sierra Club has seen fit to produce this handsome tribute, which contains about 175 of his most impressive photos, many never before published. I own a couple of his photo collections already, but the cumulative effect of this book is mesmerizing.

Even though he was heralded as the natural successor to Ansel Adams because of the vivid landscapes he often captured through his lens, Rowell was actually at his best when he showed the striking juxtaposition of a human element in his nature pictures, for example, showing rock climber Ron Kauk precariously clinging to the underside of a precipice on a Marin beach. What comes across quite clearly is a man who fulfilled his life philosophies every day, a passionate melding of artist, adventurer and environmentalist, who made a pint of anticipating his opportunities while living in the moment. To reinforce this, the editors have incorporated several testimonials from Rowell's colleagues and admirers such as Tom Brokaw, mountaineer Conrad Anker and photographer Frans Lanting, who lends particular insight into Rowell's singular motivation in transcending the reality of what he saw.

Lanting's comments lend context to Rowell's frequent use of the split neutral density filter, which intensified the color saturation in many of his most famous photos, some to a point where the image can look almost artificially enhanced. Case in point, take a look at how deeply orange the skies are in some of his sunrise photos. At the same time, the startling images he captured in Patagonia and the Karakoram Himalayas remain unparalleled, and there is hardly a more serendipitous moment than when he captured the wispy cloud formation over the split rock in the Eastern Sierras. Rowell's vision remains his own, and he leaves a legacy of photographs that resonate deeply in this book. This is a must-have for his admirers.

Galen Rowell pioneered "participatory (wilderness) photography," in which the photographer becomes an active creative participant in fine-art image making. An accomplished outdoorsman and adventurer, his deep emotional connection to nature pervades virtually all of his photographs. Another signature characteristic is his vivid use of color during the "magic hour" (at sunrise and sunset); indeed, it is arguably true that Rowell was as much a "master of color" as Ansel Adams was a master of black & white. (It is fitting that he received the Ansel Adams Award for his contributions to the art of wilderness photography in 1984.) The life of this extraordinary artist was cut tragically short in 2002 when the plane carrying Rowell and his wife (Barbara Rowell, herself an accomplished photographer) crashed as they were both returning home from a Workshop in the Sierra Mountains.

Rowell's famous photograph, "Rainbow over the Potala Palace" (which appears among the first few two-page-spread images lovingly reproduced in this fine retrospective volume) is, according to Rowell himself, one the great photos of his life. I remember seeing it years ago for the first time, and was then (as I still am now) simply in awe. It is a magnificent Wagnerian-like "epic" photograph; a perfect symbolic synergy of aesthetics and spiritual depth. It is also a quintessential example of Rowell's lifelong practice of participatory creation.

According to Rowell, this image was captured not long after a trekking group (consisting of about 15 people) that Rowell was a part of in Tibet was called to dinner. A rainbow suddenly appeared in a field below them, though not (from the point of view of the trekkers at that particular moment, as they were all settling down to dinner) in the spot that it appears in Rowell's subsequent photograph.

Rowell, relying on his years of experience with optical phenomena in diverse environments, imagined in his mind's eye the precise spot he must get to from which the rainbow would appear to emanate from the roofs of the Dalai Lama's Potala Palace. Dropping his dinner, and running into the fields as fast as he could to get to where he knew he had to position himself, he managed to capture this incredible photograph.

None of the other trekker/photographers budged an inch; although many later "claimed" to have captured the same image. In fact, none of the other images even came close to having the same drama, with the rainbows in other "versions" (having been captured from obviously wrong angles) either badly missing the Palace or invisible altogether. Only in Rowell's photograph does the rainbow rise majestically out from the Palace. Only Rowell had the forethought, intuition and strength of will to get himself, his camera and his "eye" into the right place at the right time.

Rowell's "Rainbow over the Potala Palace" (as do *all* of Rowell's finest efforts!) teaches us that a great natural scene is not always (perhaps even rarely!) enough, by itself, for a fine art photograph. It is not enough to be properly attentive, but then sit patiently, passively, awaiting the right confluence of light, tone, texture and form to present itself; one must imagine the exact space-time-soul point where that magical confluence will arise, and then act swiftly, and decisively, to grab it!

Now go out and grab this magnificent book of photography as practiced by an extraordinary artist/adventurer! You will never again see wilderness in the same way!

Coming around 4 years after the untimely death of Galen and his wife Barbara, this book does not disappoint those who enjoyed his photography. I certainly do and have for many years. This book contains a lot of photos (over 175) from early stuff to photos from his last expedition for Nat Geo. Divided into 7 main sections, you will see many of the most famous of his photos but what I like is that there are photos in there I was not familiar with. I have nearly all of his books so I like seeing stuff I have not seen before. For instance a few climbing photos of Ron Kauk and Lynn Hill, or one of 2 skiers descending the Ruth glacier in Alaska, or one from Lake Powell. Also nice are the little spot essays of some of the photos such as one by his daughter Nicole about the Lynx photo from Alaska. I'm not sure the printing of the book is of superior quality. Some of the colors seem off and a lot of grain shows up. That really is my only complaint. I am very happy to have this book, although I would rather see photos from his latest expeditions instead of a retrospective. This book is certainly worth the money.

I received the book as an early Christmas present but I doubt that I would have purchased it otherwise. That would have been my loss.

As an amateur photographer for 40+ years, I'm familiar with Rowell's work and techniques. To be candid, I find much of Rowell's work a bit unnatural. His mastery of the split neutral density filter, while undeniable, often resulted in many of his photos being a bit "over the top".

While I understand that such filters are sometimes needed to control the brightness range of certain scenes on film, they also sometimes tend to impart tonalities not found anywhere in nature.

The Singh Ray filters that Rowell used are said to be color-neutral. If that's true, I simply don't understand where some of those sky colors originated. I've used several different Kodachromes as well as Velvia and am familiar with those emulsions. Even Velvia's super-saturated colors don't really explain what's going on here.

That said, Rowell's photos are often mesmerizing. That Rowell knew his craft is obvious. One can easily become lost in the sometimes surreal worlds that Rowell could create. The reproductions are superb and the photos are presented here in sizes large enough to appreciate.

Anyone familiar with photography has to marvel at the sharpness of Rowell's handheld shots. How anyone could hang over an abyss and come away with such technically superb results is beyond belief. Yet, Rowell did it and did it consistently.

There are also shots that he obviously made from a tripod. In these, Rowell realized the full potential of his Nikkor lenses. Being familiar with Nikon lenses, the list of lenses that Rowell used came as a bit of a surprise. Several were the Nikon "Series E" lenses which, in their day, were considered unworthy of professional use. So much for that theory.

I'll never be a huge fan of Rowell's photography, at least not the way that I am of John Shaw's or Frans Lanting's. However, fan or not, how can anyone deny Rowell's contributions? Not only as a photographer, but as a naturalist, adventurer, conservationist and, most of all, as a man who left the Earth a better place than he found it.

The world is certainly a lesser place without Galen Rowell.

If you like nature photography, this is a must-have item for your book collection. Big and painstakingly produced, with a sampling from Rowell's adventure travels in the world's great mountain ranges, as well as his work around the Sierras. Especially memorable are a few dizzying shots looking down from the middle of big-wall climbs (where Rowell first made his mark as a climber) and several highly unusual landscape shots where Rowell has unobtrusively inserted himself as a casual hiker enjoying the background. All the selected shots are killer, including more animal shots than you might expect, and the editors have included a remarkable selection of short appreciations from Rowell's family, friends and colleagues. A much-deserved tribute.

If you have every looked at Galen's photos and wanted to see more, this is it. With his life cut short, at least we still have archived material that can be released in a book this nice to bring us more glimpses of his world. The color is amazing, the subjects grand, and Galens storys bring it all alive in my livingroom.

This is for me an avid non-professional outdoor photographer, a primer on how to use light and color in getting the most out of your scene. There are some amazing photos in this book, some so surreal the almost don't look like a photo, but they are. I have been an avid High Sierra backpacker for 33 years and have been to most of the locations that he photographed in the Sierras,so I know what the locations look like. I can't begin to describe how good these photos are. All of the photos are amazing because Mr. Rowell knew how to compose the photos and use the light of sunrises, sunsets, and clouds to get the best possible scenario to light photos. Besides the inpeccable photos, the writing is also very informative and descriptive of his life and expeditions that he took throughout his lifetime. If you like the outdoors, or have any photographic inclinations at all buy this book! It's amazing!!

Galen Rowell inspired me to seek out the "art of adventure" when I read his book "Mountain Light". Life is too short for us to waste standing on the sideline just watching. Looking at his work and his writings, I learned that Galen Rowell truly knew how to live. He sold his small auto business to chase his "fairy tale" and made it real. Luckily for us, he also took fantastic pictures. His photos inspired me to chase the rainbows in my dreams.

I miss Galen Rowell's weekly columns and his picture stories. However, he did leave behind a compelling message that we should all go out and seek our own adventure in life. How many of us know how to live and not merely exist?

I have read most of his books and published writing. His last book, "Galen Rowell: A Retrospective" is a collection of all his greatest photos. It will make you a fan if you aren't already. For questions or comments, you can email me at [....].

If you love adventure and beautiful, well-composed photos, you should check out this book. I'm sad that I only discovered Galen Rowell after his passing, but ecstatic that I have found a true talent. His photos speak to me and stir my soul, drawing me to seek my own adventures.

If you love Rowell's beautiful photography as much as I do, go to the the Sierra Club's website and download free images from Galen Rowell: A Retrospective to use as wallpaper on your desktop. They are amazing and will make you feel good everytime you look at your computer background! This book moved me so much and I am so happy to have one of the images to look at all day long.

There are 12 images, one for each month of the 2007 year.

Each image has been carefully selected and optimized for desktop use. All you need to do is sign up, and the Sierra Club will send you an email reminder as each new image becomes available.

Enjoy this book!
Casey