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13 November 2020

“A quest for solitude”: New book Dinosaur Dust explores the unusual communities of the Californian desert

Brighton-based photographer Zoe Childerley spent five years meeting with artists who live around the Mojave Desert.

By Gerry Brakus

As an increasing number of people look to escape rising house prices and other urban limitations, a community has begun to form in the vast and tranquil landscape around the Mojave Desert in California. Over a period of five years, Zoe Childerley met an unusual group of people there – and the unexpected collaboration that emerged between them became the subject of her book.

Childerley opens Dinosaur Dust with a quote from architectural historian Reyner Banham’s 1982 book, Scenes in America Deserta: “In a landscape where nothing officially exists… absolutely anything becomes thinkable and may consequently happen”.

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