Desert Solitude

Something about the desert has always made it a place to go looking for answers…the desert speaks to those who listen. DESERT SOLITUDE takes us to the mythic American Southwest, exploring duality through the lens of desert extremes and surreal landscapes. An ecosystem of opposites, the desert can kill you from exposure under a scorching hot sun, or freeze you at night under the moon and stars. The shade of the slot canyons can offer both life saving shade and water, or devastating drowning flash floods….One’s mind can also marvel at the beauty, serene tranquility and otherworldly landscapes — or turn on you and become your own worst enemy…. Only through the polarities and opposites, is life given meaning. Immerse yourself in the canyons, dunes, and bizarre shapes and patterns of the desert— find and follow the springs to the creeks, down to the rivers and their mighty confluences, in search of unity and balance. After the production of my first feature film documentary Mystic Mauritius on a small remote island, I had a deep yearning for big open spaces, vast wilderness, and to fully lose myself in the deserts and canyon lands of the American Southwest. As such, I set out to penetrate the rugged interior of this land — car camping, hiking, and backpacking by myself for days, weeks, and months…. Something about the strange and eery formations and the solitude that can be found here seem to whisper some kind of timeless wisdom — a bit of solace from the rapidly changing and hectic conditions of our modern existence. These areas were home to mysterious vanished ancient civilizations like the Anasazi, who built epic cliff dwellings and held mystical ceremonies in underground chambers called kivas. Even today, much is not known about the Anasazi or their bewildering disappearance. Leading theories postulate they abandoned their residences here due to drought and a changing climate — a chilling and apropos possibility considering the state of the American Southwest today. Over 40 million people directly depend on the water from the Colorado Plateau for drinking water and sanitation, and countless more on the food and livestock produced from it. Environmentally controversial dams generate power for millions, but have also wreaked havoc on the riverine ecosystem, disturbing and destroying habitat for fish and wildlife all the way down to the Colorado River Delta in Mexico, where what was once a lush wetland is mostly a dried up salt flat today. The American Southwest also holds special significance in my personal life, as I experienced a new start here as a young man, venturing out to New Mexico after university for a Student Conservation Association internship with the US Forest Service, surveying and monitoring the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl -- learning wilderness orienteering as well as kick-starting my career in wildlife conservation. As no drones are allowed in the American wilderness, I took it upon myself to carry a camera slider over four feet long, and a heavy dolly motor in addition to my other camera equipment, often with all my camping gear, as well as water and food for days. The weight, long hikes, and heat of the late spring and summer made it challenging, but grand were the rewards. Inspired in part by writers like Edward Abbey and musicians like Steve Roach and Michael Stearns, I invite you to join me on a deep dive into the desert aesthetic.