ShunCheung Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Well known nature photographer Galen Rowell and his wife Barbara were killed in a plane crash over the weekend. There is a brief news article on the <A HREF="http://www.395.com">www.395.com</A> web site. (395 is the major highway's number in the Sierra area in California.) <P> I actually called their gallery and got confirmation. They were passengers in a small plane that crashed, and there are no survivers. <P> Very sad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_shively Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I saw this posted in the Leica forum earlier this morning and had been searching the Web for any information. Unfortunately, it is true. It's stunning news...I have been inspired by Galen's photography over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efusco Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I'm deeply saddened by this news. Galen has also been an inspiration for my photography as well as an inspiration for seeking out adventure and sucking the marrow out of life. His loss will not go unnoticed but his life's work will remain a lasting rememberance and inspiration to others. --evan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted August 12, 2002 Author Share Posted August 12, 2002 Lee, I also saw the initial information in the Leica Forum. However, searching the web yield no information (including some of the SF Bay Area newspaper web sites and Rowell's own Mountain Light web site). I live in the Bay Area now and didn't see any news on that over the weekend. So I was hoping that the news was wrong, until I decided to call the Mountain Light gallery. I have several of Rowell's books and he is truely an inspiration to me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron_niebrugge Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I�m stunned! His books and photography were a great inspiration to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich815 Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 This is awful. Just awful. I have 4 books of his. He was one of my main influences of outdoor photography. I used to go into his gallery when it was just a small little store on Solano Ave. in Berkeley and just gaze in wonder at the images on the wall. <p>I am extremeley saddened this morning. May he, his wife and the other two rest in peace..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piaw Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Galen Rowell was an incredible person. I took his "Mountain Light" photography workshop in 1999, and he was an inspiration to behold. In everything he did, he was intense, quick to action, and amazingly fast. He taught me that a photography was not incompatible with outdoor pursuits, and that a love of photography did not take away from your love of nature. As a man nearing 60 at that time, he could still out-run, out-hike, and out-shoot most if not all of the students half his age in his photography workshop. A more dynamic man I have yet to meet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobatkins Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Sad news indeed. The Mountain Light site (www.mountainlight.com) now has confirmation of the tradgedy. They probably lived and saw more in their lives than most of us would if we lived to be 100. Thankfully they shared their experiences with all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hearst Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I never met him, but always considered him a mentor. Most of my best pictures were done by following his principles. I will miss his work and articles more than I can say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chachi_arcola Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Rowell's images of the High Sierra, the White Mountains, the Himalayas and almost everything in between will be treasured and he will be sorely missed. I visited his gallery in Bishop just this past spring, and his body of work will surely become even more legendary in the wake of his passing. A tremendous loss to the photographic community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack_semotchko Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 The news of Galen and Barbara's death struck me as if we were the best of friends... and it's my loss that we never met. Even so, Galen's life and work have been such an inspiration for so long that I feel as though he's been my private tutor, speaking directly to me through his writing and photography. I've just been reading a recent book of his, a compilation of his Outdoor Photographer columns, and the other day considered sending a letter to tell him how much his work means to me. I can only hope they and their family can feel the love going out to them from all of us who are experiencing a tremendous loss. Jack Semotchko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob - atlanta, ga usa Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I can�t believe it. I am truely saddened by this news. Like many of you, I have several of Galen�s book�s. He was an inspiration to me, as I love to photograph the outdoors while hiking, backpacking, or whatever. I attended a seminar he gave here in Atlanta not more than a year or two ago. A great loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_falck Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I only know him from his columns in Outdoor Photography, but I feel like I lost a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_shively Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 It's hard to explain the sadness one can feel over the death of someone they never personally met. He touched others with his photos, his writing and his life. His was a good life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwphoto Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Mountaineers & photographers have lost one of their greatest friends. We don't want to forget his wife Barbara or the planes other occupants. I would only hope that Galen & his wife are forever hiking & photographing in heavenly places; the scene of the rainbow over Potala Palace comes to mind. Galen's philosophic writings of life & photography told me the most about the friend who I never met. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_evans Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Galen Rowell, whom I never met, was the inspiration that hooked me on nature photography and pushed my environmentalism. I have read with great interest and delight every issue of Outdoor Photographer, not just for the photo he presented, but more importantly the written messages he provided. The world has lost a very dear friend. Blessings to Galen, his wife, the other passangers, and those who were near to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward_c._nemergut Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I am at a loss... Photography has lost a true artist and the Earth has lost a true friend... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus_erne Posted August 13, 2002 Share Posted August 13, 2002 I am deeply shocked as well and from Germany I am sending my condolences to all the families who lost a beloved one in this crash. I never had the pleasure to meet the Rowells, but I wanted so badly join one of their classes; unfortunately I never had a chance to realize such trip. Like most of the previous poster already stated, also for me Galen's photography and writing was a major inspiration for my photography! The only comfort for all of us may be that it happened while they were persuing something that was an important part of their lifes, photography! I feel it is such a great loss in the world of photography as there is still so much left that could have be learned from Galen's diverse experiences and different approaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_t Posted August 13, 2002 Share Posted August 13, 2002 I can't express how saddened I am by this news. I have too many of his books to count. I have seen Galen in interviews and videotapes and he has always struck me as an incredibly dedicated and humble photographer and man. I guess the thing that should give us some solace, is that he lived a life devoted to his passion, a life without regrets to be sure. We should all be so lucky to have lived that way. Best wishes and condolences to his friends and family. I shall miss his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich long Posted August 13, 2002 Share Posted August 13, 2002 Check this subject under the "archived" forum for a link to a piece that NPR had this morning on "Morning Edition". They interviewed Frans Lanting about Galen. It's a good piece.<P><I>Here is <A HREF="http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=148248">the link</A> Rich refers to. -- Shun Cheung</I><BR>http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=148248 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shyamal_datta Posted August 13, 2002 Share Posted August 13, 2002 Indeed Galen Rowell's loss is tragic for he was a classic photographer,one of the greatest contemporary nature photogrpahers in the world. For nature and wildlife lovers and photographers in India and Nepal where Galen spent so much time in photographing the Himalayas, whose mountain lanscapes he loved, he will be remembered as an artist and a perfect gentleman, modest, dedicated and sincere and in harmony with the land and the people of this region of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dick_ginkowski Posted August 14, 2002 Share Posted August 14, 2002 That says it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v.balaji Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 I'm deeply shocked to hear this. I heard about this just now, coming back from a vacation, and felt a deep sense of personal loss even though I haven't met him personally.His philosophy, conveyed through his writings, and his images were a very big inspiration for me like for many others here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_boyd Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Here's the <a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20020819X01425&key=1">link</a href> to the preliminary NTSB investigation report of the crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 Very SAD about this... I have just returned from a 2 week photo trip to Alaska. I had been reading Galen's most recent essay compilations in preparation for the adventure... the news of Galen's death has saddened me to the core. : ( bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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