How Photographer Krystle Wright Got the Shot
See how this award-winning photo was taken in the Utah desert
Krystle Wright and Angela Vanwiemeersch take on the classic 5.11 in Moab to photograph a portion of the 25-metre climb. Wright went on to win the Red Bull Illume photography competition in 2023 for the image she captured.
“One day as i was driving to my local crag, an idea hit me like a lightning bolt where I conjured the concept of illuminating a crack from within on an iconic trad climb,” said Wright. “Moab has always brought me back time and time again and teaming up with Angela Van Wiemeersch, we found Seventh Serpent in Long Canyon. As per usual, my timing is atrocious and a heat wave had descended onto Moab which meant we only had a few precious shaded hours in the afternoon to rig the lights into the crack. I’ll always be a nervous wreck in these situations but when I raced back across the canyon to set up my position to capture, what a spectacular feeling it was to witness the crack come alive as the darkness enveloped around us.”
Vanwiemeersch is a highly accomplished climber with several ascents of technical alpine lines, including the FA of Thicker Than Thieves (VI 5.8R AI4 M5 2,200m) in Alaska, a solo of Ham and Eggs (WI4+ M4 1,000m) in Alaska and the first ascent of Golden Spike (M5R WI4 150m).
How Wright got the photo that won her the competition was featured in a new National Geographic show called Photographer, which you can watch below.
Getting the Shot
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