THE SPEED PROJECT - ATACAMA DESERT - CHILE

Client: Personal Project

The Project: The Speed Project | The ATACAMA DESERT - Northern Chile is home to the Atacama Desert—the highest and driest desert in the world, which serves as the backdrop for this extreme endurance event. The Speed Project: ATA is an unsanctioned footrace that stretches from the coastal town of Iquique to San Pedro de Atacama. There is no set route, but however you choose to get there, one thing is certain: you'll be spending a lot of time above 14,000 feet.

The only rule? You have to cover the roughly 300 miles entirely on foot.

When I found out that Aaron Kubala—someone I’ve known for a few years—was running it, I knew I had to be involved. I reached out to him in October to see if he’d be interested in having me join the project. About a month later, I began a 22-hour journey to meet up with him and his team.

We decided I’d join his five-person crew to shoot both stills and video, while also using my Wilderness First Responder training to help with any medical issues. And there were definitely some.

In the end, we came away with a strong portfolio of images, an 18-minute video piece, and Aaron and half the crew battling altitude symptoms from moderate to severe.