On Exhibit — Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956

Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956, is a landmark presentation of photographs by Master Photographer Richard Stefani (1933-2022), documenting one of the Pacific Northwest’s most significant cultural landscapes months before it disappeared beneath the waters created by The Dalles Dam.

Made during the fall of 1956, these photographs capture the people, traditions, and daily life of Celilo Falls with honesty and humanity. At just 23, Richard traveled to Celilo with two cameras and only two rolls of film. Without realizing it, he created one of the last photographic records of a place with a history stretching back thousands of years.

Seventy years later, these photographs are being presented together for the first time as a unified body of work. The exhibition includes Estate Edition archival pigment prints produced from Richard Stefani’s original 1956 negatives.

“Richard didn’t arrive at Celilo believing he was documenting history,” said curator Christina Stefani. “He simply recognized something worth seeing and treated it with respect. That quiet act of observation has become an extraordinary gift, allowing us to experience a place and a moment that otherwise would exist only in memory.”

Before the Water Rose marks the first major historical presentation developed under the House of Stefani philosophy of beauty, stewardship, craftsmanship, and education.

Richard Stefani’s professional career spanned nearly six decades. While widely respected for his portraiture and landscapes, the photographs in Before the Water Rose represent some of the earliest surviving works in his archive and reveal the thoughtful approach that would define his career.

The exhibition opens with a public reception 6 to 8 p.m. Sep 26 at Stefani Art Gallery, 305 Court St NE. RSVP at houseofstefani.com/celilo

Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956, will be on exhibit through Nov 30, 2026.

This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 29 (Fall 2026)

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Author: The Instigator