The Living Desert
The Atacama appears, at first, as absence — a vast and silent geometry of salt, stone, and sky. But return to it, and the desert reveals its inhabitants. A flamingo bent over brine. A viscacha among red stones. A vicuña, attentive and elsewhere.
This series is a continuing record of those encounters.
01 Returning from Laguna Chaxa, last light. Salar de Atacama.
02 Volcanic stone formations. Jucones.
Of the desert one learns slowly. The first lesson is to wait.
03 Pastor with his herd. Salar de Aguas Calientes.
04 Marked llama, ceremonial ribbons. Machuca.
05 Andean flamingos, at the water's edge. Laguna Chaxa.
06 Chilean flamingos, courtship. Vado de Machuca.
07 Chilean flamingos in dispute. Vado de Machuca.
08 James's flamingo, in flight. Vado de Machuca.
Each return adds a name, an angle, a small revision.
09 Puna teal, in the bofedal. Vado de Machuca.
10 Puna rheas, grazing. Road to Piedras Rojas, Volcán Tuyajto.
11 Vicuñas, on the volcano slope. Laguna Miscanti.
12 Vicuñas in dispute. Laguna Miñiques.
13 Mountain viscacha, sheltered. Jucones.
14 Liolaemus, sunning. Laguna Chaxa.
And then, sometimes, the desert gives more than is asked.
15 Vicuña in profile, herd at the horizon. Vado Río Putana.
16 Vicuña, under a rainbow. Vado Río Putana, with Volcán Tatio in the distance.