2023-08-13 12:20:00
The “Verdant Hill”, this photo saturated with a landscape, is certainly one of the most famous images in the whole world. It was installed as the default wallpaper on Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system from 2001. As such, it can be said to be one of the best-known images of the 21st century, as the symbol of the digital world.
The photo was taken in 1996, in the Napa Valley north of San Francisco, California. It was the photographer Charles O’Rear who immortalized this verdant landscape one day in January, when the rain had just stopped to give way to the sun. The photographer then uses a FujiFilm Velvia film, which allows to generate a strong saturation. No editing has been done on the image and its vibrant colors. Charles O’Rear then resells it to an image bank, without imagining that this photo taken without a tripod will make his fortune.
Acquired by Microsoft
Charles O’Rear therefore resells his shot to an image bank, Corbis. It goes unnoticed at the time. But one day, a few years later, O’Rear receives a call from Microsoft. The photographer quickly concludes an agreement with the company, which wants to buy the rights to the photo for the launch of a new operating system, Windows XP.
Once the agreement was reached with Microsoft, Charles O’Rear had to bring the negative of the image to the company’s headquarters in person. The latter even pays for the plane ticket. No insurance broker would have wanted to insure the shipment, because the contract amount was far too high. Even today, the photographer has not revealed the amount of this transaction to anyone. Nevertheless, we can assume that it is one of the most expensive photos in history.
Windows XP is the top-selling operating system in the world. According to Microsoft, this default wallpaper would therefore have been viewed by no less than a billion people. Some argue that it is the image that has been the most widely distributed in the world, or at least the biggest success from an image bank. The photographer also says that this photo will remain his biggest success. “Anyone now, from the age of 15 and for the rest of their life, will remember this photograph”, he explained.
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