Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe‘s romantic landscape and flora paintings, British photographer Josh Olins travelled to the sparse Nevada desert for his latest photo book, Tierra.

Capturing the unspoiled space and crazy-beautiful expanse of the barren locale, it’s Olins’ precise composition and strength of imagery that makes Tierra so captivating. Wonderfully, too, it’s a celebration of the female form. Creating a visual dialogue between the feminine beauty and the beauty of the nature, Olins’ partner, Argentinean artist Conie Vallese – who is known for her black-and-white ink and charcoal illustrations – poses against stunning rock formations, reflecting their twists and turns with her body. This imagery is complemented by Vallese’s charcoal drawings.

Perhaps best known for his work for fashion houses such as Balenciaga, Burberry, Givenchy and Giorgio Armani (and shooting Kate Middleton in Vogue’s centenary issue), Tierra sees Olins embracing nature’s elements for a very personal project that pushes his aesthetic with alluring results. 

With the book’s recent release, we talk to Olin about shooting in the desert, photographing Vallese and being inspired by the works of Georgia O’Keeffe.

Lisa Walden: What was it about the unspoiled Nevada desert that made you choose it as your location for the book?
Josh Olin: The intent was to find a location that offered the right kind of colours and rock formations that I had in mind and most importantly a sense of vastness of landscape which we could explore. There were a few places that we equally interesting but Nevada worked both aesthetically and logistically. In a way the location was intended to be secondary to the experience of the shoot.

Lisa: The rawness of the surroundings captured alongside the portrayal of Vallese’s female form creates poignant and intimate images. Why was it that you chose those angles and depictions of her body?
Josh: Part of the initial inspiration of this project came from our visit to the Tate Modern last year and the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition. We were intrigued by the relationship of O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz who took some controversial images of her early in their relationship. Our intent was to explore the dynamic of photographer and artist. The poses developed naturally and partly in reference to some of the abstract paintings of O’Keeffe’s, specifically where she framed sky and landscapes with bone. We started to play with the simple idea of reflecting pose and body with the shapes around us.

Lisa: You once said that the most important thing to you is having a connection with the model and a good concept. How did you find capturing someone close to you as opposed to a model? Is it easier or does it bring its own challenges?
Josh: It was neither easier nor challenging, instead it offered something very interesting which was the ability to collaborate over the whole process of the project. 

Lisa: The images are combined with a series of amorphous charcoal drawings Vallese has done herself, filling the pages with her voice as well as yours. What was it like working on the book where you could combine both of your talents together?
Josh: I think including Conie’s drawings really tied the book together. It came right back to our starting point about the photographer/artist relationship; to include her creativity as well as her ‘image’ made the book feel much richer and even more personal.

Josh Olins’ Tierra is available now at Claire de Rouen in London, Colette in Paris, and Dashwood books in New York.