FRIDAYS RAINSHADOW 2020-2022

“The Mojave is a big desert and a frightening one. It’s as though nature tested a man for endurance and constancy to prove whether he was good enough to get to California.”

John Steinbeck. Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)

Despite its extreme temperatures, barren landscape, and meager precipitation, the deserts of the American Southwest have been subject to man’s interaction since the mid-1800s. The Mojave often referred to as Rain Shadow Desert, is like no other place on earth due to its surrounding mountain ranges and isolated weather patterns. Despite being the harshest of environments resulting from its unique structure and climate, it is part of a delicate ecosystem subject to environmental, ecological, and social changes.

With over one million people living in the Mojave, urban expansion continues to consume it. This work reflects upon some of the environmental impacts within the desert landscape through photography.