Behind the Image
I made this photograph in the spring of 2017, during a record-setting runoff after one of the snowiest winters on record. The Merced River was swollen with snowmelt, running fast, cold, and loud through the valley.
I wasn’t looking for a dramatic waterfall or iconic overlook. I wanted something quieter, something that felt closer to Yosemite’s essence: granite cliffs, ponderosa pines, and the river making its way through the valley, just as it always has.
I anchored the composition with the river’s movement in the foreground, then let the line of trees guide the eye toward the sunlit granite beyond. Sometimes the most honest photographs are the ones that don’t try to impress. They just observe.
About the Artist
Charlotte Gibb is an award-winning and renowned nature and landscape photographer based in Northern California. She is known for her mastery of "Intimate Landscapes" — small scenes derived from a large landscape.
The youngest of nine, she spent her early life playing and exploring the rural Northern California mountain area of her childhood home. Her father, an avid mountain climber and nature lover, made sure his kids shared his passion for the outdoors. After his death in a climbing accident, her mother continued to encourage an attachment to nature, ensuring that family vacations were spent outdoors camping, hiking, and exploring.
Charlotte earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She cut her teeth in the advertising business as an art director in the 1990s, then operated her own graphic design firm in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades. Throughout her long career as an artist, her photography was constantly infused in her design work. Her darkroom has since been replaced with digital darkroom tools, and her style has evolved from a somewhat journalistic approach, to one that pays tribute to the natural world.
Charlotte writes and publishes on the subject of photography and creativity, has been a keynote speaker and educator for several national photography events, served as a judge for international and local photography competitions, and exhibits her work throughout California.
She can usually be found tromping with her camera bag in the wilderness areas around the Sierra Nevada range and Yosemite National Park in her home state.
Ordering Information
Original photographs are hand made and not all sizes are kept in inventory.
Special orders from the photographer may take up to 4 weeks for delivery.
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Print Size Information
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