A Desert’s Indifference

17 February - 24 March 2022

In autumn 2016, Redman set out into Death Valley hoping to ‘lose himself’ in its wilderness. His initial intention was to photograph the natural landscape; he slept in his car, working at dawn or in the evening, partly to avoid the heat, but also to capture the subtle changes in light at these times of day. Yet, as he began photographing the area he quickly realised that the landscape was at once connected with, and entirely indifferent to, a centuries-old human association.

In A Desert’s Indifference, Branch Arts brings together a collection of photographs from Redman’s series Stray from the Path. This curated selection tells Redman’s narrative - recording the natural beauty and immense scale of California’s Death Valley whilst tracking the history of human presence within the land and how it has changed over time.

One of the hottest places on earth, the desert takes its name from the era of the Gold Rush and the early pioneers who perished trying to cross its inhospitable expanses. Individual works, such as Carriages, near the Trona Pinnacles, offer a 21st century window on our forefathers determination to traverse this extreme landscape.

These days the area is better known for its remarkable beauty – a beauty that attracts nearly 2 million visitors every year. Other photographs capture this new influx of tourists and Redman wryly documents their interactions with the natural environment. The title of the series expresses both his own desire to leave the well-travelled path and the irony of those who travel miles to reach this wild place only to take a quick photograph before climbing back into their cars.

Attuned to the contrast between this vast space and the tiny human presence, Redman photographed these visitors from a distance, often waiting hours for the perfect composition. Alongside images of day-tripping tourists we see images of roads that lead to nowhere, vast cargo trains track along the horizon and a gas station offers fuel and sustenance. The result emphasises the insubstantial and temporary nature of our existence in this ancient desert.

The presence of tourists creates other tensions. The lands of the Timbisha Shoshone tribe – only officially recognised after years of campaigning – sit just outside the wealthy tourist centre of Furnace Creek. Redman has years of experience working with and photographing indigenous peoples in Brazil, Nicaragua and Honduras but in this environment felt it was inappropriate to photograph the Timbisha Shoshone people. Their presence is intimated by an image of their reservation, Cars on the reservation, and in their conspicuous absence within the landscape they call home.