In Search of Half Dome

Photography by Christopher Viney

Artist Statement:

I moved to Merced County in 2003, drawn by a unique job opportunity at UC Merced and the proximity to Yosemite National Park. Within a few months, I had learned from Merced Sun-Star photographer Marci Stenberg that it is possible to see the top of Half Dome from Hwy 59 near Snelling – though it took me nearly 20 years to find it. I also became intrigued by online blog posts, especially those of Tony Immoos (photographer) and Garry Hayes (geology professor at Modesto Junior College), showing a view of Half Dome and a silo photographed from Hall Road in Denair. The blogs attracted some energetically skeptical responses claiming that the images were fake. In the spirit of scientific exploration, I started a quest to compile first-hand evidence that there are in fact multiple Central Valley locations from which Half Dome is (at least occasionally) visible.