Willing the Rainbow to Life

There are 350,000 photos in the inventory built over the decades by Galen and Barbara Rowell. But mention Galen Rowell and a single shot comes to mind--of a huge rainbow seeming to cast an ethereal light on the hilltop Potala Palace, onetime home of the Dalai Lamas in Lhasa, Tibet.

The Sierra Club’s Carl Pope said: “He didn’t make you wonder how he got that shot. He made you wonder, how did he get that rainbow?” Visitors to the Rowells’ gallery in the Eastern Sierra town of Bishop, Calif., will find an answer of sorts, a tale of persistence and sweat penned by Rowell and posted near a print of the photo. But there is no way to explain the spirit that knew such a photo was possible.

Galen Rowell was one who almost could will that rainbow to be there just then, just that way, elevating a photo to true art. His intensity helped him achieve nearly everything he tried, from more than 100 first ascents in Yosemite Valley and the Sierra Nevada to tracking the rare Tibetan antelope this summer.

At 61, Rowell still did the marathon in less than three hours and ran mountain trails with ease. He recalled spotting “an incredible dark granite spire shaped like the Luxor pyramid” in remote Pakistan a few years ago. Of course, he had to find a way up.

Always exploring, pushing the edge, but always in control. He brought those traits, and patience, to his photography of the world’s mountains, wildlife and native peoples, often with his wife, Barbara, flying the two of them in a private plane. While he shot mountains, she captured people, most strikingly the peasant faces and families of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

They died a few miles from home Sunday when their chartered plane (she was not flying) crashed short of the Bishop airport on a return from the Bering Sea. Two others died with them.

Galen had said he wanted to travel less and spend more time at home. He and Barbara each had a book about to be published. Barbara’s is “Flying South: A Pilot’s Inner Journey,” from Ten Speed Press. Galen’s is “High and Wild: Essays and Photographs on Wilderness Adventure,” by Spotted Dog Press in Bishop. Publisher Wynne Benti called it “a labor of love” for Galen Rowell; they had planned to go over final photo proofs Tuesday.

The Rowells’ Mountain Light studio, moved to Bishop from the Bay Area a year ago, was an instant magnet for visitors to the Eastern Sierra and a spark to the region’s economy. We hope it continues to be that for years, and that it will stand as a monument to their spirit and their work in the shadow of their beloved Sierra, the range of light.