The soft colours of Death Valley by Kim de Vries

Before me stretched a landscape that almost seemed unreal. The mountains and hills of Death Valley near Zabriskie Point in California lie in undulating layers upon one another, in soft shades of red, pink, brown and sand. Behind them, the landscape opens out into an endless valley, with a mountain range in the distance and a vast, clear sky.

During my road trip through the American West, I stumbled upon this spot and was struck by the immense silence and vastness. Here, everything revolves around the earth itself – the shapes, colours and lines shaped by thousands of years of wind, water and sun. What particularly drew me in were the almost undulating forms of the landscape. The mountains do not appear massive and hard, but almost soft, as if someone had applied different colours across the desert with broad brushstrokes. Every ridge catches the light just slightly differently, and as a result, the landscape is constantly changing as you look at it.

With this photograph, I particularly wanted to capture that sense of space and tranquillity. The vast blue sky stands in stark contrast to the warm earth tones of the mountains. It is precisely because there is so little to see that the landscape commands your full attention. It is vast, silent and somewhat surreal.

The soft colours and graphic lines give the image a tranquil, almost abstract quality. An atmospheric photograph for those who love extraordinary landscapes, natural colours and the impressive, unspoilt beauty of the American West.