From Steppe to Steppe

Desert Landscapes by Gary Tepfer and Rich Bergeman

Two veteran Oregon photographers—Gary Tepfer of Eugene and Rich Bergeman of Corvallis—have teamed up for an exhibit featuring color and black-and-white photographs of arid territories from Oregon’s High Desert to Asia’s Altai Mountains.

Both photographers, working independently, have been exploring desert environments for decades, and while they share a love for the spare elegance of the land, their interpretation of that land offers viewers some engaging contrasts.

Tepfer is known for his striking color images from the American Southwest, Eastern Oregon and the steppes of Mongolia and Siberia, regions he has visited many times over the past four decades. “I want to capture that aspect of the natural world that stands apart from human existence,” Tepfer says. “But the locations to which I am drawn are often the same places that are the most rich in the ritual artifacts of ancient peoples.”

Bergeman, on the other hand, is a black-and-white photographer whose most recent work has focused on that portion of the Great Basin that lies within Oregon, especially remnants of the paleolakes that dot the region.

“I’ve always wondered about all those ‘lakes’ I’d see marked on maps that didn’t really exist as bodies of water,” he says. “A little research taught me they were footprints of the great inland seas that once covered the area 10,000 years ago. Intrigued, I began to search for them and find ways to dramatize this curious evidence of the past.”

Both photographers have work in several private and public collections and over the years have been published in books and periodicals.

Opening Reception: April 26, Saturday, 1 – 3 p.m.
Artist Talk: 1:30 p.m.

Exhibition Dates:  April 25 – June 7, 2025

Please click on the thumbnails for larger images.