Desert Bloom
A photographic journey through the American Southwest.
This album was shot at the tail end of 2021, but the story begins a few years earlier. After losing a job I didn't love, I was offered $50/day to join a small team out west creating a travel website. I flew out to Santa Barbara on a whim and started working. We rambled over sand dunes and mountain passes for a couple of weeks, documenting the remoteness of obscure little towns. We were telling stories through photo and text, and publishing it online. I had no idea what I was doing, but the underlying instincts and passion were there. When I got home, I saw a vision of an entirely new career path laid out in front of me. That's when I began freelancing as a photographer and graphic designer.
In late 2021, with travel still largely restricted by Covid, I engineered a new roadtrip through the west. This time I knew my way around the camera and I intended to do the scenery justice. I saddled a rooftop tent to my car and enlisted two co-pilots. My uncle Dave—stateside at the time from Barcelona—would join me for the journey west. At L.A.X., my girlfriend Ani would tag in, and we'd make our way back home. A Desert Bloom is a climatic phenomenon where the vegetation of a dry, dormant landscape comes alive after a period of rain. Like one of these blooms, this photo-journal represents both a personal creative rebirth, and a rejuvenated adventurous spirit following the Covid years.
Chapters:

I-70 west
Saturday Oct. 30th, 2021 | Day 1
8 hours through the rain from Boston to Pittsburgh.



Pittsburgh, PA



Oct. 31st, 2021 | Day 2
Staying under cover all the way to Grand Junction. Lots of coffee.

Columbus, OH

The drive-through states






Into the night

Nov. 1st, 2021 | Day 3
Somewhere in Kansas





Gas mileage dwindles over hundreds of miles of slight incline across the plains.



Climbing




Frisco, CO

Sun drops below cloud level. Everything turns to liquid gold.

Pulling over the Utah line.


Camp for the night. Outskirts of the Spanish Valley.

Moab, Utah
Nov. 2nd, 2021 | Day 4
Moab, a lush valley town surrounded by red desert.










Arches National Park




Dave in his element

Delicate Arch

Castles in the Sky

Rock formation that inspired the title



Snowcapped




Camp meal

Nov. 3rd, 2021 | Day 5
Canyonlands National Park




Edge of the World

Dead Horse Point

Onward.

Monument Valley
Nov. 4th, 2021 | Day 6
South through Monument Valley en route to Page, Arizona.



The angle​

The shot



Page, Arizona
Nov. 5th, 2021 | Day 7
Accidentally waking up to a giant balloon fiesta in Page, Arizona





Free rides


Lift


Taken by the wind

Gravity




Glen Canyon Dam


Horseshoe Bend

Bryce Canyon
Nov. 6th, 2021 | Day 8
Detour: Bryce Canyon National Park










Thor's Hammer


The Hoodoos


Borealis Sunset

Zion National Park
Nov. 6th, 2021 | Night 8
Late night arrival to Zion National Park



Kolob Gardens Gate

Camp

Sun wakes the Canyon






Angel's Landing trail




Cliff walking


Scared of heights



Zion Canyon



Rest for the wicked


Court of the Patriarchs

The Watchman

The Halfway point
Nov. 8th, 2021 | Day 10
Nevada. Just passing through.


Nov. 9th, 2021 | Day 11
Sunrise reaches the Pacific at Crystal Cove State Park, CA.

Nov. 10th, 2021 | Day 12
Inland Empire



Palm Springs, California
Nov. 10th, 2021 | Day 12
Pull into Palm Springs for a couple days of cheap motel pools and potent cocktails






Relaxation Station



Twin Palms

Mojave Moonrise


Joshua Tree
Nov. 13th, 2021 | Day 15
J-Tree by moonlight



Skull Rock






Cholla Cactus Garden






This place rocks


Dos Tecate's with lime

Orange soda



Sky Fire Ranch




Amboy, CA. Population: 4

Heading back east

The Grand Canyon
Nov. 14th, 2021 | Day 16
5:28 am. Elevation 10,000. 28 Degrees.












Grand Canyon reverse angle


Sedona, Arizona
Nov. 15th, 2021 | Day 17
Popping in for a quick, quiet weeknight. Fulfilling destiny on a certain corner.








White Sands, NM
Nov. 16th, 2021 | Day 18
Wide open New Mexico
















far west Texas
Nov. 17th, 2021 | Day 19
There's East Texas. West Texas. And then there's Far West Texas.





















The Marfa Lights are a mysterious, potentially extraterrestrial, series of glowing orbs in the Chihuahuan desert. The town aptly uses this phenomenon to influence its entire personality, and it's what makes such a remote place worth visiting. With regret, I can't say the same about Roswell, NM (don't bother). Even if it all just turned out to be an atmospheric refraction of headlights from a distant valley highway.





Neon cowboy
Nov. 19th, 2021 | Day 21
7 hours across Texas from Marfa to Austin.





Cowboys




Quite the combination



New Orleans
Nov. 26th, 2021 | Day 28
A full day's drive from Austin. The final night.





Nov. 28th, 2021 | Day 29-30 | Saturday into Sunday
Home, is where I want to be.
After 30 days on the road, I woke up in New Orleans sluggish and hungover. I drove 21 hours straight home to Boston and went to sleep. After watching the Pats game, of course.
