Black and white photograph of a rugged mountain landscape with layered, eroded hills in the foreground and a dark mountain range in the background under a cloudy sky.

Universal Desert

We live on a rocky world. Its surface supports our weight and allows us to move over, across, and around it. Geological processes, obligated by the universal laws of physics, wrench and thrash on a planetary scale to shape, destroy, and remake this surface and its constituent metals and minerals into irregular forms through great gravity, pressure, and heat. Other rocky worlds, neighbors though still alien, have, too, been molded by processes leading to uneven and unique topographical features, fashioned with familiar yet still strange landscapes. Sharing largely the same ingredients, equipped with wind whipped atmospheres and common elements forged from the same fire, our badlands are not unlike their badlands. When we understand the barren parts of our world, we understand, at least in part, a Universal Desert.

Captured over 5 years between Hawaii, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, this series of images is a study of geological forms, light, and texture.

Black and white photo of a mountain with a prominent peak, the moon visible in a clear sky above.
Black and white photo of jagged mountain peaks with dramatic clouds in the sky.
Black and white photograph of a large rock formation with steep, layered slopes and a rugged, eroded surface.
Black and white photo of two tall, pointed rock formations on a barren landscape with a plain sky in the background.
ShadowMount2.jpg
Black and white photo of a mountain range with arid desert terrain in the foreground and a partly cloudy sky overhead.
Black and white photo of sand dunes with ripples and windblown ridges, with mountains and cloudy sky in the background.
Close-up of sand with ripples and footprints in black and white.
Close-up of a rounded corner of a metallic or plastic object, with smooth texture and shadows, in grayscale.
Black and white photo of a mountainous landscape with layered, eroded hills in the foreground and darker mountains in the background under a cloudy sky.
Close-up of sand dunes with rippled patterns at the beach, black and white style.
A black and white photo of a cracked, salt flat surface with mountains in the background.
Black and white photo of a cracked dry desert floor with distant mountains in the background.
A large shadow cast by a rock on a cobblestone ground with irregularly shaped stones.
Black and white photo of sand dunes with ripples in the foreground and dark mountain range in the background.
Black and white photo of rugged mountain landscape with deep ridges and shadows.
Black and white photograph of a rocky mountain landscape with a flat, sandy foreground and a small, distant object on the ground.
A black and white desert landscape with a rugged, rocky terrain and steep, eroded hills in the background.
A black and white photograph of a barren landscape with mountains in the background, a flat plain in the foreground, and a single small structure or object in the middle of the plain.
Black and white photo of a rock formation resembling a mushroom or figure with a large top and a narrow base, set against a cloudy sky.
A black and white photograph of a barren, rocky landscape with a large boulder in the foreground, a mountain in the background, and a cloudy sky.
Black and white photograph of a barren, rocky landscape with rolling hills and scattered small rocks or dust.
A black and white landscape of barren, rocky mountains and a winding dirt trail.
Black-and-white photograph of a desert landscape with mountains and a cloudy sky.
A black-and-white photograph of a tall, jagged mountain peak surrounded by dark clouds and mist.
Black and white photo of a mountain range under a sky filled with dark, ominous clouds.
Black and white landscape with rolling hills in the distance and flat terrain in the foreground, featuring a small pond or water body.
Black and white landscape photograph of a mountain range silhouette with a light source behind it creating a bright glow in the sky.