Mountain Hardwear / Photography
Ama Dablam & a first ascent
Photography for Mountain Hardwear on a 2022 Himalayan expedition, from Ama Dablam to a new route above the Khembalung Valley. Life at camp, faces on the approach and technical climbing, photographed from inside the team.
- Role
- Photographer · Expedition team member
- Assignment
- Expedition photography · Brand storytelling
- Location
- Nepal · Autumn 2022
The photographs
From the Khumbu to the summit. Explore the approach, Ama Dablam and the southwest ridge of the peak the team proposed calling Khembalung.
Room to experiment.
Part of Mountain Hardwear’s brief was to get a little weird: make imperfect, out-of-focus photographs alongside the sharp expedition imagery. At Tengboche Monastery, I let Andrea’s movement and the spinning prayer wheels blur together. The quieter moments mattered too: a puja in Pangboche, a pause on the approach, a close view of the layers keeping us warm.
Making the frame at altitude.
On an acclimatization rotation to Camp 1, I noticed prayer flags arcing above Garrett on a ridge. A telephoto lens brought the flags forward until, for a moment, their shape echoed the mountains behind. It became my favorite photograph from the trip. The rest of the collection moves between that mountain scale and the daily experience of an expedition: tents in blue-hour light, a ridge emerging from fog, friends waiting out a storm.
A new route in the Himalaya.
After Ama Dablam, we flew to the next objective and waited through days of snow. On November 14, 2022, I joined Garrett Madison, Rich Draves, Ang Phurba, Dawa Nurbu, Dorchi and Tenji on the first ascent of the southwest ridge of Peak 5,608m. We proposed the name Khembalung for the village our Sherpa teammates called home. I photographed the climb as a member of the team, from the tent to the summit.
Read more about the people, place and making of the work.
Read the expedition account in the American Alpine Journal ↗New projects
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