Okay, we want you to minimize your browser window for a minute, and look. Look at the desktop wallpaper on your screen right now. Gorgeous, isn’t it? If it’s one of the stock wallpapers, we’ll move on the next question.
Where was it clicked? If you have a comparatively newer version of your operating system, there is probably a method for you to check.
What about the photographer? How did the company come across the image?
The point here is, yes, we do appreciate our wallpapers but have we ever thought about where they come from? With all the spectacular images our operating systems provide us with as wallpaper packs, it would be difficult to imagine what we’d use in their absence. With more and more time being spent using computers each day, wallpapers are of utmost importance; they’re, after all, the first thing we see after the boot logo, to say the very least. But about their back story? Who selects these visual treats that are present on computers all over the world?
Being the chirpy inquisitive birdies we are, The Yellow Sparrow decided to dig deeper into this matter and find the answers to these questions.
Turns out, the process is not that easy. With millions of talented photographers clicking pictures every day, websites exclusively meant for sharing images, organisations that have in house photographers that offer rights of their images for use, even co-workers and employees with a penchant for photography, the choice is endless. Microsoft is one of those organisations that has managed to seamlessly incorporate the best of the talent from all of the above, so their pictures are on computers all over the world.
Jenny Lam from Microsoft Design was assigned the daunting task of selecting the images that would be the official wallpapers for Windows Vista. She had to go through over 50 gigabytes of such images, which amounts to over 10,000 photos. Sure, about two third of the images were licensed from international photography giants (National Geographic, Corbis et al), but would you have known that some of them were clicked by amateur photographers that Microsoft chanced upon through Flickr? Some of the images were even clicked by their employees!
These photographers were sent on a commissioned photoshoot by Microsoft itself. Hamad Darwish, an amateur photographer from Kuwait who was studying in USA at that time, was one of the talented lucky ones. He says,
I got a short Flickr message asking me if I was interested in selling some of my work, without mentioning the party that is interested in buying. After I replied to the message saying “Yes. Why not”, I received a professional offer from Microsoft MSX Design Group. The moment I saw the Microsoft logo on the header, I didn’t know how to react!
Chosen by Microsoft to be one of the wallpapers for Vista, this is also one of Darwish’s favourite shots.
Being familiar with the Oregon region, he decided to shoot there. He clicked about 6000 images in 10-12 days, out of which he sent 15 to Microsoft. The standard household name for software had to select five out of those. He has his other beautifully serene images available for download on his Flickr page. He also has his own website that you can view here. All of those would make such lovely wallpapers, we cannot fathom how Microsoft could choose only five!
Image courtesy – Hamad Darwish
Some other images were clicked by a professional who was hired by Microsoft, that Jenny was responsible for art-directing. These images were shot mostly in Santa Barbara and NYC.
This idea of choosing images based solely on talent, and not name and credit, is especially innovative as it gives millions of amateur photographers an incentive to keep that camera on and a chance to showcase their images to, virtually, the whole world, an opportunity they might never have received otherwise, especially if photography for them is, for several reasons, only a hobby and not a full time job.
They take creativity and expression very seriously, which reflects in their choice for the wallpaper sets they used for Windows 7 as well. Microsoft posted on its blog,
Because the desktop background is such a vibrant surface, we wanted to focus on providing quality content that demonstrated how creative people could be with this feature.
Microsoft is known for landscape photography in its desktop wallpapers, but this time, they wanted to broaden their horizons and expand their territories, and therefore, decided to incorporate urban themes of architecture as well. Though images were supplied by their partners, they also hired a commercial professional photographer Will Austin for providing a few photographs. Based in Seattle, Austin sent six photographs that came from his stock collection. Microsoft described his images as having provided “a little bit of the local flavor of the Seattle area that we are proud to call home.”
Image courtesy – Will Austin
The Microsoft Corporation team, in his opinion, were a group of wonderful people. He says, “They were so professional yet so friendly and down-to-earth, it was a great experience. I could also see that they really cared so much about their work and the project they were working on, it was inspiring.”
One of the images by Mike Swanson for the theme “Nature” for Windows 7 and above.
They didn’t just hire photographers though, like we mentioned before. Mike Swanson, an avid photographer and employee in the firm for over ten years, was requested by the organisation to create a theme pack for the wallpapers. He readily agreed, and though he was busy with other work and commitments for quite time, Microsoft was, he says, very accommodating and patient. When he finally did manage to submit his work, it was categorized under the theme pack “Nature”. His favourite image among them is “Leaf 62”; as for us, we can’t choose – they’re all so pretty!
Leaf 62, Swanson’s favourite image from the theme pack!
Image courtesy – Mike Swanson
Apple isn’t too far behind either. Most of their images come from National Geographic (they’re visible on a semi hidden folder buried deep inside the Mac) and people say a few of their space images that they use for desktop wallpapers are obtained from NASA.
Clicked by Michael Melford for National Geographic, it has been used by Apple as a wallpaper.
Image courtesy – National Geographic
However, there have been occasions where images by photographers have been licensed by the company for the iPads. Keegen Gibbs is one such photographer. He says he received an email from the art department of Apple one morning with one of his photographs attached, asking if he wanted to license it to them. He, like any sane person in their right minds, agreed and his photograph is now on iPhones, iPads and iPods running iOS7.
The image by Keegan Gibbs that was licensed to Apple.
Image courtesy – Keegan Gibbs
For all those looking for the back story of this stunning image, he says, “The image was shot a few years ago in Indonesia while on a surf trip in the Mentawai islands. The image is actually upside down, so what looks like the sky is actually under water, the water surface is just below the surface.” You can check out other fabulous pictures by him on his blog.
National Geographic’s explorer and photographer Jimmy Chin is another such person whose work has been used by Apple. His image from the Ennedi desert was used for showcasing the MacBook Pro Retina Display. He clicked the image in 2010 which shows climber James Pearson climbing the first ascent of the Arch of Bishekele in the Ennedi Desert, Chad. You can learn more about his work here or visit him on his website.
The image by Jimmy Chin that Apple used to showcase their MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
Image courtesy – Jimmy Chin
Regardless of your operating system, we’re sure your desktop wallpaper right now is a splendid piece of artwork. You know by now that choosing a wallpaper is no easy task. The companies have to select images that are a treat to look at while all the while ensuring that the colours and shapes of the wallpapers don’t distract you from your work or make it difficult for you to look at your icons and find important documents on your desktop.
While we’re talking about desktop wallpapers, we can’t help but mention the evergreen classic, Bliss, which was the default wallpaper for all Windows XP computers. That image is one of the most famous in the world, one that everyone unmistakably recognizes. It was shot by Charles “Chuck” O’Rear in 1996, when he was driving through California’s wine growing territory, north of San Francisco to meet his girlfriend. Reports say that image has been used on over a billion PCs around the world. Even though Microsoft took down XP back in 2014, we’re sure this is the one thing about that version we all still miss. Let’s be honest, it brings back memories of childhood and of computer labs in school.
This needs no caption.
Image courtesy – HD Wallpapers
So much of work goes into visualizing these images, sourcing them, licensing them and marketing them so everyone gets those dreamy images on their computers. And now hopefully, the next time you switch on your computer, you’ll take a couple of more seconds each time to appreciate the beauty in front of your eyes and on your screen!
And to all aspiring photographers – amateurs, those who are learning and even the professional ones: keep that battery charged, keep those lenses at hand, unleash that creativity and never stop clicking. Who knows, the next email in your inbox might be from Microsoft or Apple!
