joshua thaisen

The reality of climate change is exacting a heavy toll on the biological diversity of the planet. If we cast the debate of human ignorance and natural causes aside, the accelerated extinction of species allows human beings a candid insight into the reality of life and death. The apocalyptic forecast for the planet threatens the proliferation of our species, however in the waning light of our existence an opportunity for a philosophical evolution arises.

 

If we subscribe to the philosophical idea of some universal continuity to all life on earth, then we must consider the physical design features of our planet as the classroom to understand the natural forces that rule our existence. The desert is designed to test the biological attrition of organisms, for human beings it also has the potential to test our ability to adapt through interrogating the composition of our perception and instincts. What we see in the landscape is determined by how intimately we interact with it.

 

By shooting landscape and nature scenes I am constantly reminded of the scaring of life and death. In the desert these symbols are enhanced by the hostility of extreme temperatures and violent weather. Over an accumulation of weeks of time spent roaming freely in Joshua Tree National Park, I have attempted to crystalize the mysticism of the desert with a photographic inquiry into life and death.

 

Joshua Tree National Park was formed by rapturous geo-thermal activity 1.8 billion years ago. The result was an isolated desert plateau, walled in by huge granite formations, and separated from the ecological evolution of the surrounding Pacific Southwest. The master of this extreme environment is the prehistoric Joshua Tree— a type of yucca that has outlived the planets ability to sustain it’s reproductive cycle. This relic of the dinosaurs is now under the threat of extinction due to minute climate changes and drought.

 

The desert is most beautiful in bloom, In nature this process of reproduction signifies a beautiful dying. In Joshua Tree the air permeates with botanical sweetness, as large white flowers peel away from the fisted limbs of the spiny Joshua Tree. After pollination the contorted arm of the tree simply falls off and dries up into brittle white tusks, resembling bone. The green needle like spines replenish like rows of shark teeth, before collapsing into the shagy fur coat of dead leaves that protect the trunk. With age, the bloom becomes more grand, taking a larger toll on the tree with each year. As the sun sets over the Mojave Desert, distorted hues of purple and orange cast psychedelic silhouettes of the Joshua tree in every direction, unravelling the limitations of our perception by completely distorting and twisting our field of vision. My camera is at it’s mechanical limitation, blur and grain and darkness invade my lens like cancers as I struggle to control the light. I let go, a new way of seeing emerges, the photos come to life.

 

The lasting death of the Joshua Tree symbolizes a philosophical deficiency in our global ability to perceive the wisdom of plants. Natural laws are consistent across all life, However the human sense of entitlement has left our race delusional in the face of our dying planet. The folly of our ill-perceived immunity from the life cycle has rendered our developed society useless in our ability to constructively explore our own deaths.

 

The Joshua Tree has played its sunset symphony for millions of years, wearing the scars of death as a badge of honor, aging elegantly and naturally through a cycle of shedding, blooming and dying. A reminder for us, that birth sealed our fate, and like the Joshua Tree, our final bloom can be our most beautiful.