Who Photographed the Windows XP Bliss Wallpaper?

The iconic "Bliss" wallpaper that served as the default desktop background for Windows XP was photographed by Charles O'Rear. Captured in early 1996 in California's wine country, the unedited image of lush green hills and a brilliant blue sky went on to become one of the most viewed photographs in human history. This article explores the story behind Charles O'Rear, how the historic photograph was taken, and how it eventually became the face of Microsoft's flagship operating system.

Charles O'Rear was an experienced American photographer who spent more than 25 years working for National Geographic, as well as contributing regularly to the Los Angeles Times. Throughout his career, he developed a specialized focus on wine regions around the world, particularly in California.

In January 1996, O'Rear was driving through Sonoma County, California, on his way to visit his girlfriend (now wife), Daphne Larkin, in Marin County. While traveling along Highway 12/121, he noticed a hillside that had temporarily been cleared of grapevines due to a phylloxera bug infestation, leaving it blanketed in vibrant green grass following recent winter rains. Paired with a passing storm that left deep blue skies and distinct white clouds, the landscape presented a rare, picturesque view.

O'Rear pulled his car over to the shoulder to capture the scene. He used a handheld, medium-format Mamiya RZ67 camera loaded with Fujifilm Velvia film, a color slide film renowned for its rich color saturation and high contrast. He took four exposures and made no digital alterations to the image.

After shooting the photo, O'Rear submitted it to Westlight, a stock photography agency that was acquired in 1998 by Corbis, a digital media company founded by Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. A few years later, Microsoft selected the image to serve as the default wallpaper for Windows XP, naming it "Bliss."

Microsoft purchased the full, exclusive rights to the original photograph for an undisclosed sum reported to be in the low six figures. Because the value of the photograph was so high that conventional shipping companies refused to insure it, Microsoft paid for O'Rear to personally fly to their headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to hand-deliver the original film transparency.

When Windows XP officially launched on October 25, 2001, "Bliss" was introduced to hundreds of millions of computer screens worldwide. Due to the operating system's massive success and long lifespan, billions of people have seen O'Rear's photograph, cementing it as an enduring symbol of early 2000s personal computing.