Into The Desert With Jim Mangan
- Name
- Jim Mangan
- Project
- Bedu
- Words
- Rosie Flanagan
In an exploration of land and people, the photographic series ‘Bedu’ takes us back to nature with fervency. In Illinois photographer Jim Mangan’s desert dream, people run free across the wild and empty Little Sahara Desert in Utah.
Shot on a 35mm camera, this series continues to explore the figurative links between man and his surroundings. Mangan drew inspiration for the series from Wilfred Thesiger’s book Arabian Sands. In this tale, Thesiger refers to his companions as Bedu — an abbreviation of Bedouin, meaning desert dweller. In Arabian Sands, the hero frees himself from all material possessions on a trek through the desert — ‘Bedu’ asks we do the same. This series is the final part of Mangan’s trilogy on rebirth, a story told through drifts of sand and bodies moving silently through space.
All images © Jim Mangan
