During the pandemic years I spent significant time in the Mojave Desert of Southern California and Nevada, United States. It's an isolated location that is both harsh and comforting.
The spare landscape of the desert can cause an altered state of consciousness and while there, I was drawn to the end-stage yucca plants. Their human-scale and seeming animation caused me to see them as elders, aliens, ghosts, shamans, kings, queens, warriors, victims, seekers, and migrants silently moving through the desert with me as their sole witness. Some were alone while others seemed involved in an unfolding drama that appeared as a tableau.
Despite it's harsh and minimal appearance, the desert is a fragile ecosystem. Most recently and sadly, a major fire has altered a large patch of the Mojave Desert, including the area where I documented these wonderful plants. It will take generations for the area to recover. I hope that my yucca people have escaped this most recent devastation.
There area. total of sixteen images in this series.
