28 November 2020 | New Scientist | 29Surreal oilscape
Photographer David Gardner
THIS landscape looks more like a
bizarre film set than a real place.
What was once a desert occupying
more than 40 square kilometres
across the foothills in Kern
County, California, has been
rendered unreal by an immense
sea of oil rigs and pump jacks that
leave little trace of its natural state.
The Kern River Oil Field has
been mined extensively for
crude oil since the spot was first
discovered in 1899. Its reserves
were estimated at more than
475 million barrels in 2006, with
oil currently being removed at
a rate of 70,000 barrels a day.
Extraction has been made easier
by fracking, a drilling process that
allows oil producers to tap into
more reserves than ever.
This image is part of a
collection of photographs entitled
“Into the Anthropocene” taken
by photographer David Gardner.
The collection won him the Judges
Choice prize in the Professional
Climate Change category in this
year’s BarTur Photo Award.
Gardner’s work highlights the
environmental destruction taking
place throughout the western US
in order to support an ever-
growing human population.
“In each location, I was
simultaneously dazzled and
disturbed by the scope of these
transformations – many occurring
in my lifetime,” writes Gardner on
the BarTur Photo Award website.
“What was revealed I found
compelling – strangely alien
but completely human.”
For more on the 2020 winners
and details of a related exhibition,
visit barturphotoaward.org. ❚
Gege Li