A man who has taken photos of the Mojave Desert for 16 years using the same camera has found everything from pet cemeteries to ghost towns

Sophie-Claire HoellerApr 16, 2020, 02:35 IST

Yermo, California.Zach Bradley photography

Zach Bradley has been photographing the Mojave Desert for 16 years.
He's used the same film camera the entire time.
He's come across all sorts of bizarre finds, from a pet cemetery to a "wheel of misfortune."
"There's not really a rhyme or reason, I'm just kind of compelled to do it," he told Insider about shooting the Mojave for all this time.
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Zach Bradley, 35, is not the capricious type.

Raised in Barstow, California, Bradley says he got into photography as a kid after buying some disposable cameras at a Rite Aid to capture the many abandoned things around his hometown. But the Mojave Desert, which covers 25,000 square miles, got him hooked, leading him to buy his first and only film camera at 19.

Almost two decades later, he uses the same camera to photograph the same desert. Though, now, Bradley lives with his wife and son in Henderson, Nevada, which he says is "almost like a gas stop" between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

From an eerie pet cemetery to abandoned homes, Bradley has found a smorgasbord of bizarre things in the desert. Keep scrolling to see some of his favorite shots.

Read the original article on Insider

"I feel like I'm just going to do this forever, until I'm unable to," he said. "I'm just going to keep going and shooting different places."

Bradley says the desert keeps calling him back; he has no plans of finding something else to photograph.

"It was a neighborhood of nice little old-school suburban houses, where the streets are all aligned a certain way, and every house kind of looks the same. People lived there for years," he said.

Bradley says he's seen a lot change in 16 years. He was especially struck by a suburban neighborhood in California that he says he used to drive through, and recently came across completely abandoned.

Bradley says he's seen a lot change in 16 years. He was especially struck by a suburban neighborhood in California that he says he used to drive through, and recently came across completely abandoned.

"The history here is insane," he says, citing abandoned mining towns. "Why on Earth would people live here?"

Bradley says every time he goes out to shoot, something new will catch his eye, be it a coyote skull or a pop of wildflowers. But it's the unique history of the places he visits that keeps him coming back.

Bradley says every time he goes out to shoot, something new will catch his eye, be it a coyote skull or a pop of wildflowers. But it's the unique history of the places he visits that keeps him coming back.

He says he still uses the same film camera he bought at age 19. "I just stuck to the film," he said. "That classic look, you can't really replicate that."

"My thing is I've always kind of done it for the art form," he said. "I don't even care if I make money off of it. I just like putting my shots out there."

Bradley isn't a professional photographer and says he doesn't aspire to be one.

Bradley says the most bizarre thing that happened to him was when a guy who was "pretty much pushing a shopping cart out in the middle of nowhere [...] stopped and talked and sang a song. He was a desert character, his face was all worn and weathered."

Bradley says the most bizarre thing that happened to him was when a guy who was "pretty much pushing a shopping cart out in the middle of nowhere [...] stopped and talked and sang a song. He was a desert character, his face was all worn and weathered."

He's also come across abandoned houses in the middle of nowhere: "I just wonder 'Why?' How could somebody just live out here with no power?"

His favorite discovery is a "really weird handmade" pet cemetery. "There's nothing professional about it except a few tombstones," he said, adding that "it's creepy, like a ghost hunter type spot."

Currently, he goes out to shoot almost every weekend.

The sky also dictates his shoots. "I've taken shots on these kind of funny days with no clouds, but I prefer some kind of cloud cover," he said.

While he sometimes has a few things on his agenda that he wants to shoot, he usually just hits Route 66 to see where it'll take him.

Bradley estimates that he's explored everything in the high desert portion of it, from California to Nevada.

The Mojave covers 25,000 miles, stretching from southeastern California to parts of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.

Photographer Zach Bradley has been shooting the Mojave Desert exclusively for 16 years. "There's not really a rhyme or reason, I'm just kind of compelled to do it," he told Insider.

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A man who has taken photos of the Mojave Desert for 16 years using the same camera has found everything from pet cemeteries to ghost towns

"I feel like I'm just going to do this forever, until I'm unable to," he said. "I'm just going to keep going and shooting different places."

Bradley says the desert keeps calling him back; he has no plans of finding something else to photograph.

"It was a neighborhood of nice little old-school suburban houses, where the streets are all aligned a certain way, and every house kind of looks the same. People lived there for years," he said.

Bradley says he's seen a lot change in 16 years. He was especially struck by a suburban neighborhood in California that he says he used to drive through, and recently came across completely abandoned.

"The history here is insane," he says, citing abandoned mining towns. "Why on Earth would people live here?"

Bradley says every time he goes out to shoot, something new will catch his eye, be it a coyote skull or a pop of wildflowers. But it's the unique history of the places he visits that keeps him coming back.

He says he still uses the same film camera he bought at age 19. "I just stuck to the film," he said. "That classic look, you can't really replicate that."

"My thing is I've always kind of done it for the art form," he said. "I don't even care if I make money off of it. I just like putting my shots out there."

Bradley isn't a professional photographer and says he doesn't aspire to be one.

Bradley says the most bizarre thing that happened to him was when a guy who was "pretty much pushing a shopping cart out in the middle of nowhere [...] stopped and talked and sang a song. He was a desert character, his face was all worn and weathered."

He's also come across abandoned houses in the middle of nowhere: "I just wonder 'Why?' How could somebody just live out here with no power?"

His favorite discovery is a "really weird handmade" pet cemetery. "There's nothing professional about it except a few tombstones," he said, adding that "it's creepy, like a ghost hunter type spot."

Currently, he goes out to shoot almost every weekend.

The sky also dictates his shoots. "I've taken shots on these kind of funny days with no clouds, but I prefer some kind of cloud cover," he said.

While he sometimes has a few things on his agenda that he wants to shoot, he usually just hits Route 66 to see where it'll take him.

Bradley estimates that he's explored everything in the high desert portion of it, from California to Nevada.

The Mojave covers 25,000 miles, stretching from southeastern California to parts of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.

Photographer Zach Bradley has been shooting the Mojave Desert exclusively for 16 years. "There's not really a rhyme or reason, I'm just kind of compelled to do it," he told Insider.