Half Dome over the Merced River
Source: Art Falk archives
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Art and Marion Falk drove their Nash coupe west from Nebraska to California during the Great Depression and, not long after their arrival in Redondo Beach, Art went into the Sierra Nevada mountains. In the spring of 1935, he filled a bag with cameras and headed for Yosemite National Park. With the rivers swollen and waterfalls gushing after a wet winter, he spent a week wandering around Yosemite Valley shooting artistic movies and large-format black-and-white photographs. On one afternoon during that trip, just before twilight, Art waded out into the middle of the Merced River and composed a perfect photo of Half Dome’s massive granite face preening over a silhouetted row of tall trees. His feet got cold and his pants got wet but it was worth it because, nearly a century later, we’re still admiring that perfection.