If you have ever used a computer running on Windows operating system, then the chances of you remembering the ‘Bliss’ wallpaper are very high. The photograph, which was clicked by Chuck O’Rear, remained the default wallpaper for 16 years in different iterations of the OS. Now, 21 years after he shot the picture, O’Rear has created three new next-generation wallpapers for Lufthansa as a sequel to the ‘Bliss’ photo.
The project, New Angles of America, is specifically directed towards smartphone users. In this video, O’Rear described how capturing the picture was a life-changing experience for him.
Using a medium format camera, he took the picture in 1996 in Sonoma County, California while he was on his way to meet his girlfriend. Interestingly, his picture was sent to Corbis, an advertising and licensing agency, before the photo rights were purchased by Microsoft in 2000, a year before the launch of Windows XP.
Check out this video of O’Rear visiting various places for the sequel.