The Breathtaking Deserts of Australia, and a Man’s Quest to Photograph them All

Four years ago, Joshua Smith flew over the Simpson Desert for the first time. As he passed by the desert, he was not able to stop snapping.

"There were shapes and colors and details that I just did not think were possible," he says.

The resulting images were so stunning that Joshua got a crazy idea in his mind; why not take a picture of all the deserts of Australia?

It's a gargantuan, if not foolhardy, quest: Australia has 10 deserts occupying more than 500,000 miles (or nearly 20 percent) of its mainland—more land than is contained in all Peru. Yet they host just .15 people per square mile, meaning you're often more likely to meet a reptile than another human. It's easy to see why. Temperatures hit triple digits between December and February, and rainfall—below 10 inches—sometimes evaporates before hitting ground. If that weren't enough, global warming could aggravate these conditions, possibly adding 100 miles or more to the deserts' southern boundary by the end of this century. But Smith is dogged. Since that first flight over the Simpson Desert, he's documented five other deserts—the Great Victoria, Strzelecki, Sturt Stony, Tirari, and Pedirka—and plans to tackle the rest next month.

What tenacity and dedication!

Here are some of the stunning photos taken by Joshua. See more on Wired.

(Images Credit: Joshua Smith)