Patagonia by Jim Riche

JIM RICHE

PHOTOGRAPHY

PATAGONIA

R E L AT I O N S H I P B E T W E E N WAT E R , S N O W, L A N D & W I N D

PATAGONIA “There is something about the expanse of Patagonia, a kind of haunting soulfulness, that affects you physically. Few places grab you like this and hold on so tightly and for so long.” *Ms. Kristine Tompkins-former CEO Patagonia Inc. As we flew in to the airport at El Calafate, Argentina I was struck by the vistas, the indescribable color of Lago Argentino and the vastness of undisturbed land. To see this land for the first time is to recognize what nature means to our world, how this world needs to conserve what we have and embrace the beauty of what nature has given us.

The stark beauty of Patagonia crosses borders; its land is buffeted by the winds of the southern oceans, the high plains, the soaring peaks, and granite towers make it one of the most inspiring places in the world. The untouched magnificence of nature envelops all those who travel there and there is no way to describe this in words alone.

These landscape images are infused with icy blasts, freezing rain, and the breakthrough of the sun through the constant clouds that provide sudden glimpses of the Andes and the powerful Torres del Paine peaks. The glaciers rise out of the water to a backdrop sky of wintery black mountains with streaks of snow, clouds rolling through the peaks, the ever present winds blowing the snow. It is stark, beautiful, and often unforgiving.

At the same time there is silence and solitude. One of the least populated areas on earth, there’s little human presence.

The jagged glacier ice and the moisture in the air dampen all sound. Breath turns to mist reminding us that we are still

alive. The fluid, organic surfaces, luminescence of white, and the textures in the images define new visual structures in the landscapes. There is an intimate relationship between water, snow, wind and the wildlife that chooses this isolated region for its habitat.

The power of nature and the emotions evoked by that power are important characters in these images. I ask the viewer to look deeply into the images, to see the details as well as the metaphors included in each frame; to consider how the natural structures relate to the cool tonality of the frozen glaciers and the seas they create.

PATAGONIA is the relationship between water, snow, land and wind with the mountains and the ever-changing forces of nature. Man is but an observer, lucky to be in the presence of such beauty and power.

My travels in Patagonia in November 2017 started on the Argentina side of the Andes. We arrived in El Calafate at the Los Glaciares National Park, home of the third largest grouping of glaciers in the world after Antarctica and Iceland. These images are of the still-growing Perito Moreno Glacier. We cruised to the receding Upsala and Spegazzini Glaciers as seen from Lago Argentino. Glaciers soar to 300 ft above the water and a staggering 500 ft below the surface in places. As you approach the glacier the chill of the blue ice is caught by the wind, dropping the temperature and making your eyes water. These glaciers are tremendous in size and scale; you can feel their age, although most are emblems of climate change, receding rapidly.

From El Calafate we traveled south 200 miles, crossing over

the border to Chile and Torres del Paine in the heart of the Patagonia National Park of Chile. It is an unspoiled land, with sparse signs of man, few roads and fewer places of lodging.

The Hotel Las Torres is located at the base of the Paine Massif. It’s more like a five-star hostel, expanded from an older inn and shelter and is the anchor on the famous “W” trekking trail of Patagonia. It’s a place for travelers, hikers, horseback riders and campers from the surrounding area to congregate, compare notes and exchange tales from their journeys. The hotel’s backdrop is the southern Andes, with the famous Torres del Paine limestone towers rising up in the distance into nearly ever-present clouds. The weather is as unpredictable as anywhere on the globe with frequently fierce winds, but the vistas are always breathtaking.

Explorations from the hotel were to Lago Nordenskjold by foot and van along mostly dirt roads to Lagos Pehoe, Azul, Grey and the waterfalls at Mirador Salto Grande and Cascada Rio Paine.

It was an awe-inspiring trip, one that I will remember all my life, hoping to one day return. The park is a vast expanse of nature at its finest, with dramatic scenery, fascinating and diverse wildlife, that attracts only 115,000 visitors a year in its almost 1,200,000 acres in two countries. The magic of this land is matched by the people who work there: guides were knowledgeable, proud, enthusiastic and charming. Patagonia left me spell-bound to the point of tears at the beauty we were privileged to admire and absorb. *Quote by Ms. Kristine Tompkins, widow of North Face founder Douglass Tompkins and ex-CEO of Patagonia, as she donated 1 million acres of land to create a national park in Chile. The government added an additional 9 million acres to create the largest chain of National Parks in the world.

ALIMENTE NIETO FOG

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ALIMENTE NIETO

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ALMIRANTE NIETO PEAK

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ALMIRANTE NIETO SUNRISE

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ALMIRANTE NIETO WITH TORRES

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CASCADA RIO PAINE WITH TORRES

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CASCADA RIO PAINE

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CERRO DEL PAINE

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CERRO DEL PAINE LAGO PEHOE

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CERRO DEL PAINE VISTA

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CERRO DEL PAINE PANORAMA

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CERRO PAINE GRANDE

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LAGHO PEHOE

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LAGO GREY GLACIER

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LAGO GREY STORM

LAGO GREY

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LAGO NODENSKJOLD VISTA

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LAGO NORDENSKJOLD

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PATAGONIA PANORAMA

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PAINE GRANDE VISTA

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PERITO MORENO FACE

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PERITO MORENO

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PERITO MORENO MOUNTAIN

PERITO MORENO

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PERITO MORENO IN THE CLOUDS

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PERITO MORENO VISTA

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PERITO MORENO PANORAMA

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SPEGAZZINI GLACIER WALL

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SPEGAZZINI GLACIER WINDS

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SPEGAZZINI GLACIER PANORAMA

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TORRES DEL PAINE FROM LAGO AZUL

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TORRES DEL PAINE HOTEL VISTA

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TORRES DEL PAINE HOTEL

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TORRES DEL PAINE VISTA

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VALLEY OF TORRES DEL PAINE

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TORRES DEL PAINE PLAIN

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ALL PHOTOGRAPHS PUBLISHED IN THIS BOOK "PATAGONIA" HAVE BEEN PERMITTED BY JIM RICHE AND ARE PROTECTED UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW. IT IS FORBIDDEN TO COPY THEM OR RESEND IN ANY OTHER FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR. ALL TRADEMARKS, GRAPHIC DESIGNS, LOGOS, NAMES AND OTHER DATA PUBLISHED IN THE MAGAZINE ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND BELONG TO THEIR AUTHORS. ALL COPYRIGHTS FOR PHOTOS BELONG TO JIM RICHE.

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