Whidbey photographer honored for stunning panorama of sand dunes

Published 9:33 am Friday, March 26, 2010

The thought that came into photographer Rich Frishman’s head when he first saw the massive motorized crowd at the Imperial Sand Dunes was ants crawling on a carcass.

The sight made Frishman cringe and want to run away. But as a photographic storyteller, Frishman also wanted to capture an image that wouldn’t necessarily send a message but evoke emotion in his quest to document what he called “the curious interface between people and the Earth.”

“I wanted people to draw their own conclusions,” said Frishman, who lives in Langley. “I’m not a propagandist. I’m just depicting the scene.”

After six hours of shooting with a 400mm lens over a two-day period, Frishman collected more than 200 images and stitched them together in a panorama called “Imperial Sand Dunes.”

For “Imperial Sand Dunes,” Frishman has been awarded the grand prize in an international photographic competition and exhibition sponsored by the city of Palm Springs. He will be recognized at an awards ceremony at the Hyatt Palm Springs on April 22.

The “Earth Through a Lens” exhibition, which honors the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, will feature Frishman’s mammoth 8-foot-wide giclee — French for archival fine art print — that depicts hundreds of sand buggies racing across the Imperial Sand Dunes in southeastern California.

It’s the largest mass of dunes in California, more than 40 miles, averaging five miles wide and rising to heights of more than 300 feet above the desert floor.

Only 30 images were selected for exhibition and three are by Frishman, including his panoramic images “Bombay Beach” and “Garbage Dump; Essex, California.”

Frishman was a photographer for The Herald from 1977 to 1984. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Since then, his art has appeared on the covers of Life, Time and Sports Illustrated.

When he shot his award-winning panorama, Frishman said he happened to be visiting the Imperial Sand Dunes during one of its busiest times for “sand toy enthusiasts,” which was Thanksgiving weekend when the area can grow from a normal population of about 20 to a quarter of a million people, Frishman said.

“The picture captures nowhere near that energy that you feel when you are there,” he said. “You can’t capture it in a single picture.”

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com

Different angles

To see more images by Langley photographer Rich Frishman go to www.frishphoto.com. Contact Frishman about reprints of the sand dunes photo at Rich Frishman, P.O. Box 1213, Langley WA 98260; 360-221-1984.

Also, Frishman’s photomosaic collage of the Coupeville landmark “The Dog House” can be seen at www.brackenwoodgallery.com.