am in love with the Mojave Desert. Austere, enchanting, secretive ... the Mojave is a land of mysteries; a keeper of secrets, a land of great contradictions and contrasts ... A land of much beauty and little rain.

At first glance, many see a barren and lifeless land, bleached and baked by the glaring sun, chafed by relentless winds. Despite this often fierce and aloof countenance, the Mojave is a sensitive and fragile land that must be protected. A myriad of life is seen here ... if one pauses to look. Many of these species are unique, occurring here and nowhere else in the world.

The skies in the Mojave are big; they have to be, to crown a land so vast. Vistas appear to be endless here, immersing the traveler in a seemingly timeless stretch of forever and beyond.

Within this apparently limitless place, there lies yet another contradiction. This enigmatic land, while projecting a facade of such immeasurable strength is, in truth, delicate, fragile, and finite.

It is my hope that, by looking at these images the viewer will come away changed - no longer seeing the desert as a wasteland, but as a miracle of life's inventiveness and tenacity against great odds ... and to come to recognize that the Mojave is a wondrous place deserving of our care.

Indeed, it is a treasure.