Full circle. That was the phrase that kept running through my head on this trip.
Thirty years ago, I was sending slide film to Jennifer Ridgeway and Jane Sievert at Patagonia —photography capturing the glorious life of being a young dirtbag living out of a Honda Civic. I was traveling around the American West, shooting climbers for Patagonia, people who would become lifelong friends, as well as tagging along with the likes of Tommy Caldwell up the side of El Capitan to capture some of the most cutting-edge moments of his career.
Back then, I had no idea what I was doing, not really. I just knew I loved making pictures and climbing, and somehow, Patagonia was paying attention, and this brand became one of my first real clients. Jennifer and Jane took a chance on a young guy with a camera and a lot of ambition, and it shaped everything that came after for my career.
Last August, I got a really special opportunity to shoot for Patagonia once again — only instead of capturing lifestyle and climbing photography of my own peers, I was tasked with capturing a group of tweens for Patagonia Kids. We put together a horsepacking trip into the Sierra Nevada to go climbing and camping in the backcountry. And what made it especially cool is that the cast was virtually the same — myself and my wife, Marina; Tommy and Becca Caldwell; and my good friends Todd and Tara Offenbacher. But the heroes of the photography were our kids: my daughter, Leila; the Caldwell’s kids, Fitz and Ingrid; and the Offenbacher’s daughter, Olive.
So many of the details were different, and yet everything felt almost exactly the same.
There’s something about watching the next generation move through the mountains — curious, fearless, completely unself-conscious — that resets something in you. Plus the setting and subjects made it easy to get creative. Horses. Granite. Good light. Good people. The Sierra in August at its absolute best. Again, it was familiar, but different. Back in the day, I used to have to bribe my fellow climbers to get out of bed early for the good light with cases of beer, now I was using a similar tactic with the kids, only it was candy.
What struck me most wasn’t just the spectacular landscape — it was the continuity. The same values that drew me to Patagonia when I was dirtbagging it in my Civic are the same values that brought us all up into those mountains together: authenticity, craft, a belief that the outdoors makes people better.
These images are outtakes that I can share here, but the hero shots will show up in Patagonia catalogs, websites, and campaigns over the coming months. Keep your eyes open. If you spot Leila, Fitz, Ingrid, or Olive out in the wild, let me know!
A huge thank you to incredibly talented and delightful Heidi Volpe, who is now leading the charge on photography at Patagonia and made this assignment a reality.
Behind the scenes
And just for fun, here are a few BTS images from the trip!
