Ramón Traverse | Poster

Two hikers move along the ridgeline of the Sierra de Ramón, suspended between the vast basin of Santiago and the high summits of the Central Andes. The landscape unfolds in layers of distant mountains and open sky, creating a composition defined by scale, movement, and quiet distance.

Captured in September 2018 during a three-day traverse linking Cerro Provincia and Cerro Ramón, this photograph documents one of the classic mountaineering routes overlooking Santiago. Although the range rises directly above the city, the experience of traveling along its crest feels remarkably remote. The ridgeline stretches across a succession of summits, with the urban valley on one side and the deeper Andes extending beyond the horizon on the other.

As the expedition progressed, the photographer gradually fell behind the other two members of the group. The growing distance created an opportunity to frame the landscape more deliberately, allowing the hikers to become small figures within the immensity of the terrain. Rather than focusing on the challenge of the route itself, the image explores the relationship between people and place, where human presence provides scale within a landscape that remains overwhelmingly vast.

Photographer: Santiago Canales

Location: Sierra de Ramón, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile

Date: September 2018

Medium: Landscape Photography

Subject: Hikers traversing a mountain ridgeline in the Central Andes