USA

Dinner by the Dashboard Light

Death Valley is a self-described land of extremes. Surrounded by snowy peaks, it’s home to the lowest point in the United States, and characterized by steady drought and record heat. History tells us that the name came courtesy of a group of gold rushers who took a shortcut from Salt Lake City to Sutter’s Mill, California. Four months later, as they crested the west side of the Panamint Mountains, someone is said to have proclaimed ‘Goodbye, Death Valley’. It was knowing none of this that ...

Empire State of Mind

They were sitting cross-legged on the ground, palms pressed against a mosaic of black and white tiles set into the concrete. The design was circular, littered with wilting rose petals. Pennies arranged along the inner ring. At its heart, a single word. Imagine. I wanted to get my camera out. Photograph them. But I desperately needed to sit down. I’d seen Soho, the Flatiron Building and half of Central Park before arriving here at John Lennon’s monument, but I’d made a huge mistake. I’d ...

The Hills Have Eyes

“Are you sure this guy actually likes you?” I thought I was. We’d met when I hired him to take photos a few years back and we still grabbed lunch on the regular. But now, driving down a deserted dirt road to nowhere, I wasn’t so sure. He’d sent me this way. Given me directions to an off-the-beaten-path town that would make for some pretty pictures. Over the last few hours we’d driven deep into California’s Mojave National Preserve. I wasn’t sure we’d make it out.