Historical photographs have been diverse since photography became an accessible form of art and communication. But what is the true story of the most famous photographs of the last hundred years?After all, behind every click there is always a story to tell. Thus we will unravel the facts that surround the decisive moment of each click of the series “The Story Behind Famous Photographs”.
Today we are going to talk about a very famous photo that has gone around the world, literally: the one on the Windows XP screen, yes, is it real and was captured by the American photographer Charles O?Rear 1996.
- At the time.
- Charles was dating a woman named Daphane and went to California.
- An area with many vineyards.
- To see her.
- It was January.
- A rainy month in this part of the United States.
- According to the photographer.
- A storm seemed to be approaching.
- But soon white clouds arrived that caused a nice contrast to the bright green grass of the field.
With such a landscape, Charles O? Rear immediately stopped the car and took the photo with a Mamiya RZ67 film camera, according to him, this was not the first time he had tried to photograph the hills of the region using his favorite Kodachrome 64 film.
When did the photographer sell his image to Microsoft?I didn’t imagine that millions of people around the world would see photographs printed on the computer screen. In an interview, he said, “I had no idea this would be the most viewed and recognized photography in the world. “
Microsoft discovered the image of the future Windows XP screen through a photography agency that Bill Gates founded in the late 1980s, but the files were not of very good quality, so the company turned to Charles to buy the original photo in person.