1993 | Badwater, Death Valley
My equipment seems heavy until I am far from the road. Along the way, there are occasional traces of earlier movement, but these are drawn on another layer; in my own space, there are no other explorers. When the only sensation is the crunch of my steps on the pseudo-ice of the salt pan, I am making my approach.
Then I am clear, standing lightly on a bright, distant moon with an empty yet freshly sustaining atmosphere. It is cold and calm, and I am surprised that the water bottle on my belt is not frozen. I am no longer restrained by my thoughts – they are quiet, broad, unified. I cannot explain what I might now know, or what I will never understand, but I can photograph these things.
▷ From the prologue in Death Valley: The Ambiguous Landscape. I have edited it into the first person since it’s based on my experience; your own will be different.
▷ The Death Valley book is still in print…