Agnese Cebere

Eugene, Oregon

Desert Shots is a photographic series taken in the high desert near Redmond, OR. It explores themes of landscape and land, surface and depth, eschewing romantic depictions of this familiar terrain and instead casting the gaze downward: at abandoned campsites, makeshift fire pits, animal carcasses and household refuse.

These images are the product of a study of a liminal site of recreation that is also a site of illegal dumping of waste and detritus. Part forensic investigation, part aesthetic intervention, this work underscores the way nature and culture are intertwined in our everyday lives, while pointing to anxieties around the climate crisis.

The manipulations of trash and objects both found and staged explore an idea of the desert as a virtual site existing between the living and the dead and point to landscape as a constructed image, showcasing human intervention and rendering place into image.