Surfaces

I am fascinated by the ongoing consumption and abandonment of the landscape by commercial, military, and industrial processes. The literal and visual debris they leave behind in the form of structures and alterations to the landscape are a source of disturbing and beautiful contrast.



These images are from an ongoing project documenting the everyday debris found scattered in the high desert of the American West They are mostly the result of chance encounters with instances of such debris – brilliant rusted and shot up cars in desert junkyards, disintegrating equipment and machinery at mine and mill sites, and abandoned vehicles at old ranches.



Harsh weather and extreme sun oxidize paint and metal in fantastic ways, and I try to see these surfaces as abstractions apart from their physical context. Even so, the distant horizon and high desert sun of their surroundings are always present when I see them.



There are no horizons and no scale to these images. This takes them out of the enormous environment in which they are found, yet retains a sense of the harsh light and intense color of that environment.



This particular group of images was taken in one location over the course of several days.