Mojave Desert Photos for Sale

Artist's Statement

The desert is a passion--not all of the deserts, just the Mojave. I enjoy the contrasts; the light, the way the light changes, especially throughout the twilight before sunrise or after sunset. The Mojave, after every corner is turned, is a different desert. The Mojave is a desert defined by its diversity. A land whose commonality lies in its differences--contrasting and wild. Those objects and concepts are what I try to capture and express in the images you see on these pages.

Biography

As a young boy I remember the stark contrasts of the Iowa winters; pure white, snow-covered rolling landscapes, silvery skies, viridian wind breaks; bare, but not barren. That was where my attraction to contrasts began.

As a young man, this attraction grew in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. There was more contrast; sharp, angular, rugged, snow on top, boulder-strewn and sandy on the bottom. In those mountains, on the summit of Cucamonga Peak, I spent a crystal clear night. Too excited to sleep, I could see far out into the desert in the full moon light. I could see the battlegrounds for the struggles between geology, plants, animals, man and history to persist. Contrast lain bare, open, and blunt.

That was when the decision was made to live there. In 1986 I moved to the edge of the Mojave.

After ten years, in 1996, I found myself working on a project attempting to document the natural history of the Mojave Desert. A project like this, the exploration of the Mojave, has led me into developing my appreciation for the contrasts that make up the Mojave, and expressing that vision through photography.