Terra Galleria Photography

Posts Tagged ‘photography’

The Trek – Zanskar, 1989

https://www.terragalleria.com/blog/the-trek-zanskar-1989 In the summer of 1989, I set foot in Asia for the first time—a formative journey that expanded both my view of the world and the role photography could play in it. A few years earlier, college friends at Polytechnique had introduced me to climbing, and I had taken to it immediately. Photography followed […]

The Living Colorado: Photographing the Grand Canyon from the River

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/the-living-colorado-photographing-the-grand-canyon-from-the-river/ Part 3 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3 The Colorado River is the main waterway of the American Southwest. Over millions of years, it has carved the Grand Canyon, the most spectacular intersection of water and stone, time and motion. The Grand Canyon segment of the Colorado is not only its most dramatic […]

Landscape from the Bottom: Highlights of a Grand Canyon by Raft Photo Expedition

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/landscape-from-the-bottom-highlights-of-a-grand-canyon-by-raft-photo-expedition Part 2 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3 Anyone peering into the Grand Canyon for the first time is struck by two immediate, shocking facts: it comes without warning, and it is absolute. There is no soft transition, no gentle slope that prepares you. One moment you’re on the rim, the next you’re […]

Living the Grand Canyon

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/living-the-grand-canyon Part 1 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3 On a photography expedition such as the one I co-led from May 1 to May 11 this year, participants come to capture the Grand Canyon’s awe-inspiring landscape and spend ten days immersed in its depths. But the Grand Canyon, like other national parks, is not […]

Two Arches in Joshua Tree National Park

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/two-arches-in-joshua-tree-national-park Natural rock arches are rare in California’s deserts compared to places like Utah because of differences in geology and climate. Most natural arches form in soft sandstone, but California’s desert regions have mostly harder granite, metamorphic, or volcanic rocks. Freeze-thaw cycles and sustained water flows are less frequent than on the Colorado Plateau. Yet […]

The Coyote Creek Trail Project

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/coyote-creek-trail-project After spending a quarter-century photographing the vast, iconic landscapes of America’s national parks, I turned my attention to the landscapes of my own city, San Jose, California. This shift in my practice mirrors an evolution in environmental thought: from conserving distant wilderness to embracing an inclusive ecology that acknowledges the complex, intertwined relationship between […]

Landscape Photography 1988-2024

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/landscape-photography-1989-2024 In this narrative, I draw a parallel between the development of my landscape photography work over more than three decades and my view of the historic evolution of landscape photography and environmental thought. I Growing up in France, I did not experience natural, raw landscapes solely shaped by primordial forces of nature until I […]

Wildlife along the Trail

https://www.terragalleria.com/blog/wildlife-along-the-trail “Landscape without wildlife is just scenery” is a quote used by Kris Tompkins, the subject of the inspirational Wild Life (2023) movie, to discuss the world’s largest rewilding project that she and Doug Tompkins initiated in Patagonia. It would appear that the ribbon of land along suburban Coyote Creek Trail isn’t doing too badly […]

Autumn in New England

https://www.terragalleria.com/blog/autumn-in-new-england The first time I had flown somewhere just for the purpose of photography was when I traveled to New England in the fall of 1996. Beyond the pastoral scenes, the revelation of the fall foliage there turned out to be the starting point for my updated approaches to time and scale. Back then, since […]

Under-Over Water Split Shots: Challenges and Solutions

http://www.terragalleria.com/blog/under-over-water-split-shots-challenges-and-solutions Under-over split shots are some of the most technically difficult photographs I have attempted. In this piece, I review the challenges and solutions behind my latest attempt on Ofu Island in American Samoa, including even an instructive experiment with AI. If you are curious about everything that goes on behind those types of photographs […]