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It’s one thing to be a nature photographer. It’s something entirely different to put yourself at risk, often in the most extreme conditions, to get the perfect photo. It’s a particular form of photography called “photojournalism,” which uses the powerful imagery of photos to take the reader closer to an event than words alone can describe. The photographer becomes a participant in the event, rather than just a spectator.

Photos have served to amplify the magnitude of events like World War II, the Vietnam War, Hurricane Katrina, the assassination of President Kennedy and hundreds of other events over the years. Thankfully, though, photojournalism has a more beautiful side as well.

Galen Rowell was one of the forefathers of nature photography as photojournalism. His work graced the pages of National Geographic, Life, Outdoor Photographer and numerous other magazines that became famous for the quality of photography in their pages. Galen Rowell’s photos are beautiful, but even more so considering two important factors: the fact that he was never formally trained as a photographer (though he would conduct hundreds of photography workshops in the years before his death in a plane crash in 2002), and the lengths he went to in order to take those photos.

Photographer and adventure

Rowell’s love of the outdoors meshed well with his skill as a photographer, but his natural athletic ability – as well as a well-honed sense of adventure – took him to places where other nature photographers wouldn’t stand a chance. Rowell was an accomplished mountain climber who began climbing in 1950, at age 10. Photography was originally a way for him to share his adventures with family and friends, but eventually it became a way of life.

As a result, mountains are the focal point for many of Rowell’s most famous photos. Some of his most famous photos were published in his 1977 book “In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods,” a history of the mountain K2 that included the story of his participation in a failed attempt by U.S. climbers to scale the mountain in 1975. K2, which is located on the mountainous border between China and Pakistan, is the second-tallest mountain in the world at 28,251 feet (behind Mount Everest at 29,029 feet), and is arguably the most difficult to climb because of its incredibly steep climbing paths. More than 2,700 climbers have reached the top of Mount Everest, with 208 deaths, while K2 has had slightly more than 300 successful ascents – and 77 fatalities at last count. In context, the ratio of deaths to successful ascents of Everest is a little less than 1 fatality for every 14 successful ascents, while K2’s ratio is 1 death for every 4 successful ascents.

Beyond K2

K2 is only part of Rowell’s photographic record of mountains around the world, including his one-day ascent of 19,000-foot Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, and a one-day climb of 20,000-foot Mount McKinley in Alaska. He was part of the first group to climb Cholatse, a 21,000-foot peak near Mount Everest. As if that wasn’t enough, he also is on record as being the oldest person to climb El Capitan (the 3,000-foot sheer-faced granite wall in Yosemite National Park) in a single day, at age 57.

“Throne Room” was one of 18 books of photos and text that Rowell authored. His 1986 book, “Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape,” combines 80 of Rowell’s favorite photographs with information about equipment, conditions and techniques connected to each one. It is considered a must-read for any nature photographer of any skill level.

Rowell shot a wide variety of landscapes, reaching from the Arctic to Antarctica, but he understood the importance of mountains to his legacy. “My mountaineering skills are not important to my best photographs,” he once admitted, “but they do add a component to my work that is definitely a bit different than that of most photographers.”

Despite his skill as a photographer, Galen Rowell also understood the importance of words to go along with beautiful images. “The combination of pictures and words together can be really effective, and I began to realize in my career that unless I wrote my own words, then my message was diluted,” he said. “There’s no question that photographs communicate more instantly and powerfully than words do, but if you want to communicate a complex concept clearly, you need words too.”