You must remember the classic wallpaper from the old Windows XP. In the image, simple and elegant at the same time, there were green hills and a beautiful blue sky.
The photo, known as Bliss or as “the most viewed photo in the world”, was taken by American photographer Charles O'Rear, who is currently 81 years old, has made some startling revelations about the conception of the image.
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According to O'Rear, he was in the "right place and time" when he took the image. In addition, the photography veteran said, in an interview with People magazine, that he did not make great preparations or use high-resolution cameras.
Charles says that on the day he took the photo in 1996, he was on his way to visit his then-girlfriend, Daphne, in the city of Saint Helena, California. Halfway there, he spotted a beautiful landscape and decided to photograph it.
“I always carry a small camera on my shoulder, because you never know when it's going to come in handy, right?”, he said. “I used to pull the car over frequently to take pictures while traveling. On my travels, I always found beautiful scenery”, he added.
The author of the “most viewed photo in the world” even revealed the equipment used that day. “There was nothing very sophisticated. I just used some brighter color film from Fuji Film, the lens from the Mamiya RZ67 camera and my old tripod,” he said.
When interviewed by Microsoft itself, for an institutional video, the photographer explained that perhaps the secret of the image's success was precisely the equipment used.
“The size of the camera and film together made the difference and I think it helped the Bliss photography to stand out even more. I think if I had shot it with another set of equipment it wouldn't have the same effect,” he admitted.
From chance to absolute success
Bliss, which would be just another image captured by Charles O'Rear, has become one of the most important images in history, being known by billions of people around the world.
All the success began in 1998, when the company Corbis, belonging to Bill Gates, bought the photo agency Westlight, which had bought Bliss photography from Charles.
It is not known for sure how much the agency was bought by Bill Gates' company, but after the photo Bliss went viral, Charles O'Rear received nearly $100,000 in gratuity for taking the iconic photography.
In addition to the retribution, Charles says that the photo changed his life forever. “I still get emails every week with messages related to Bliss photography,” he revealed.
“When I die, even if I'm not buried, Daphne [Charles' wife] said that my tombstone will say 'A Lucky Photographer'”, jokes the veteran.
The photographer also told a little about his understanding of the dimension that his work took over time.
“The image is everywhere, as we all know. […] The image, no matter where we are in the world, is always there, on some old computer in a luxury hotel that is not updated 30 years ago, in the lobby where people are checking you out, on billboards, on planes, at airports, etc,” he reflects O'Rear.
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of acting professionally as a Content Writer for the Web, writing articles in different niches and different formats.
