"A Cruel Beauty: Death Comes to the Desert" Series Statement
Death comes to the desert in many forms: through the natural life cycle, of course. But now, with the increasing impact of climate change on the environment, the desert landscape is in real peril. We are into our 23rd year of drought. With drought and temperatures rising 2.5 degrees (F) since the beginning of the 20th century, the risk of large wildfires is projected to increase. Higher temperatures are having a dire impact on the natural environment. Buffelgrass, a highly invasive non-native weed, proliferates, often serving as tinder for wildfires that are likely to increase in severity and frequency. Many plants and animals living in the Sonoran desert are already near the limits of what they can tolerate. In my unscientific survey as I hike the desert, there seem to be more dead trees and cactus than I have seen before. This new series attempts to depict, in a metaphoric way, the effect climate change is having on the Sonoran Desert.
The photographs in this series are captured digitally and presented as archival pigment prints in editions of 9. Print size is available up to 24 x 34".