The Good Badlands

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I have worked and spent a lot of time in this area for well over two decades. As far as I know, I was the first to create an extensive fine-art portfolio in these badlands, and the first to photograph some of the compositions on this page, which have since become iconic. Admittedly, my feelings about contributing to the growing popularity of this area among photographers, are mixed.

These arid places of clay and shale are the backdrop to harsh, desolate, and infinitely delicate vignettes. To a casual visitor, it is a sun baked wasteland of lifeless grey earth, caked and cracked and carved by rare floods. To the patient observer, however, there is great beauty here, delicate and subtle, but it does not reveal itself easily. You have to want to see it, and be willing to work hard for it. On rare years, wildflowers burst into stunning display of color, transforming the desert into a veritable garden for just few precious days; miss it and you may never get another chance. This area is also coveted by off-road enthusiasts, in many places despite legal closures to protect the fragile ecosystem. This is a place where humans always struggled, yet always fought for.