Before the Water Rose
Advance Acquisition
Photographs by Richard Stefani, 1956
In response to early collector interest, three photographs from Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956 are being made available for advance acquisition prior to the exhibition's opening on September 26.
These are the three signature photographs that have been released publicly in advance of the presentation.
The remaining photographs in the archive will be held from public view until the exhibition opens.
The Estate Editions
Each Estate Edition is produced from Richard Stefani's original 1956 color negative under the direction of the Richard Stefani Estate.
Each work is a chromogenic photographic print on Fuji Crystal Archive DP II paper, produced in Germany and mounted under matte, reflection-reducing acrylic glass with aluminum Dibond backing. The photograph is presented in a handcrafted Basel black oak floater frame and arrives ready to hang.
Each work is accompanied by Richard Stefani Estate documentation recording the photograph, edition number, edition size, production specifications, and provenance.
Each size constitutes a separate, strictly limited edition. Edition sizes are fixed and will not be increased.
Estate Editions are offered in three scale categories, with edition sizes of 25, 15, and 10 respectively. Exact dimensions vary according to the original composition of each photograph. Richard's photographs are not cropped simply to conform to standard dimensions.
A very small number of selected photographs may eventually be authorized by the Richard Stefani Estate in a distinct Monumental Estate Edition, at substantially larger dimensions and with a separately defined edition. Monumental Estate Editions are not part of this release.
Request Acquisition Information
For availability, edition numbers, institutional acquisitions, or assistance selecting a work, please contact Stefani Art Gallery.
Private and institutional inquiries are welcome.
Acquiring an Estate Edition
Advance acquisition reserves a numbered work from the stated edition before the public opening of Before the Water Rose.
Established Stefani Art Gallery collectors may reserve an edition with a 50% acquisition deposit, with the remaining balance due prior to delivery. Other acquisitions are payable in full at the time the edition is reserved.
Once production of a reserved edition has begun, acquisition deposits are non-refundable.
Edition numbers are assigned in the order acquisitions are confirmed.
Each completed work is accompanied by documentation from the Richard Stefani Estate identifying the photograph, edition number, edition size, production specifications, and provenance.
The prints created specifically for Before the Water Rose are designated Estate Exhibition Copies and are retained by the Richard Stefani Estate. They are not part of the numbered collector editions.
Richard Stefani's original artist-printed photographs remain in the Estate archive and are not offered for sale.
Available for Advance Acquisition
Richard Stefani (1933–2022)
From Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956
There are few photographs that allow us to stand within a landscape that no longer exists.
This is one of them.
Richard Stefani made this photograph in the fall of 1956 while exploring Celilo Falls with two cameras loaded with color film. Rather than focusing on a single individual, he stepped back to reveal the larger landscape: the immense force of the Columbia River, the fishing platforms extending into the current, and the broad sweep of hills rising beyond the water.
The scene feels timeless.
Yet we know it was not.
Only a few months after this photograph was made, the closing of The Dalles Dam inundated Celilo Falls beneath the waters of the newly formed reservoir. The physical landscape changed forever.
The photograph reminds us that places are more than geography. They are shaped by the people who gather there, the traditions they sustain, and the memories they create. For thousands of years, Celilo Falls was a place of fishing, trade, ceremony, and community. Those connections continue today, even though the falls themselves remain beneath the river.
Richard's photograph asks us to look carefully, not simply at a remarkable landscape, but at a place whose significance cannot be measured by scenery alone.
Estate Edition
Printed from Richard Stefani's original 1956 color negative.
Chromogenic photographic print on Fuji Crystal Archive DP II paper, produced in Germany and mounted under matte, reflection-reducing acrylic glass with aluminum Dibond backing. Presented in a handcrafted Basel black oak floater frame. Ready to hang.
Each work is accompanied by Richard Stefani Estate documentation recording the photograph, edition number, edition size, production specifications, and provenance.
12 × 8 in.
Edition of 25
$1,500
24 × 16 in.
Edition of 15
$3,200
30 × 20 in.
Edition of 10
$6,500
Edition sizes are fixed and will not be increased.
Richard Stefani (1933–2022)
From Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956
A young woman sits among the rocks at Celilo Falls in the fall of 1956, looking directly toward Richard Stefani's camera. Behind her, fishing platforms extend over the rushing waters of the Columbia River.
Made when Richard was twenty-three, the photograph reveals an early sensitivity to portraiture that would become central to his later career. Her identity is not yet known to the Richard Stefani Estate. Rather than speculate, we leave the question open in the hope that future research, or someone who recognizes her, may one day restore her name to the photograph.
Estate Edition
Printed from Richard Stefani's original 1956 color negative.
Chromogenic photographic print on Fuji Crystal Archive DP II paper, produced in Germany and mounted under matte, reflection-reducing acrylic glass with aluminum Dibond backing. Presented in a handcrafted Basel black oak floater frame. Ready to hang.
Each work is accompanied by Richard Stefani Estate documentation recording the photograph, edition number, edition size, production specifications, and provenance.
10 × 10 in.
Edition of 25
$1,500
20 × 20 in.
Edition of 15
$3,200
30 × 30 in.
Edition of 10
$6,500
Edition sizes are fixed and will not be increased.
Richard Stefani (1933–2022)
From Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956
Some photographs reveal a place.
Others reveal a way of life.
This photograph does both.
In the fall of 1956, twenty-three-year-old Richard Stefani stood beside the Columbia River with two cameras loaded with color film. Before him, an Indigenous fisherman sat quietly on a wooden platform extending over the immense current of Celilo Falls. There is no dramatic gesture, no acknowledgment of the camera. The fisherman is completely absorbed in his work.
The image speaks to a tradition refined over countless generations. Fishing platforms like this one were carefully positioned above the rushing water, allowing fishermen to dip net salmon as they moved upstream. Success depended not only on strength but on patience, experience, and an intimate understanding of the river.
Richard did not photograph this moment because he believed it would become historically important. He photographed it because it deserved his attention.
Within months, Celilo Falls would disappear beneath the reservoir created by The Dalles Dam. The falls themselves were lost from view, but the cultural traditions and treaty rights connected to this place continue today.
Looking back, this photograph reminds us that history is often preserved through quiet observation. It invites us to pause, to notice, and to recognize the dignity of ordinary work carried out in an extraordinary place.
Estate Edition
Printed from Richard Stefani's original 1956 color negative.
Chromogenic photographic print on Fuji Crystal Archive DP II paper, produced in Germany and mounted under matte, reflection-reducing acrylic glass with aluminum Dibond backing. Presented in a handcrafted Basel black oak floater frame. Ready to hang.
Each work is accompanied by Richard Stefani Estate documentation recording the photograph, edition number, edition size, production specifications, and provenance.
8 × 12 in.
Edition of 25
$1,500
16 × 24 in.
Edition of 15
$3,200
20 × 30 in.
Edition of 10
$6,500
Edition sizes are fixed and will not be increased.
Request Acquisition Information
For availability, edition numbers, institutional acquisitions, or assistance selecting a work, please contact Stefani Art Gallery.
Private and institutional inquiries are welcome.