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
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.
