Galen Rowell - Career

Career

In 1972, Rowell sold his small automotive business and became a full-time photographer. Within a year, he had completed his first major assignment, a cover story for National Geographic Magazine. The story, originally initiated by an invitation from fellow photographer Dewitt Jones to help him on an assignment, came about when Jones was called away and Rowell suggested an ascent of Yosemite National Park's Half Dome that he documented on his own. When National Geographic got the pictures, they decided to do a story separate from Jones's and 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.

He won the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation 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 about the history of mountaineering on K2 (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 “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 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 was published by Sierra Club Books: Galen Rowell: A Retrospective (ISBN 1578051150).