Photographer Captures The Milky Way Mirrored On Earth At The World’s Largest Salt Flat

Photographer Captures the Milky Way Mirrored on Earth at the World’s Largest Salt Flat

By Sara Barnes

on August 2, 2016

Salt flats around the globe are known for their intoxicating visuals
and otherworldly feel. Russian photographer Daniel Kordan
recently made the trek to Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
—the world’s largest salt flat
—and shot the Milky Way as it reflected off
of the mineral-covered plain.

“There are not so many places in the world
where you can enjoy absolute dark sky,”
Kordan tells us in an email.

“Light pollution is in the cities and even small villages.”

The results are a stunning fusion of the Earth and cosmos
—at times, it’s hard to tell where the two begin and end.

Kordan planned a month-long road trip to observe the stars
and shoot astrophotography, which was easier said than done.

The high elevation (4,000 to 5,000 meters above sea level)
meant that he needed at least five days to acclimate to the change.

Kordan then spent the following two weeks
in the Altiplano of Bolivia, but he still faced challenges.

“Of course, it’s hard to move and hard to breath,”
he explains. “But due to proper planning, we were safe and healthy.”
The adjustment period was worth it for the awe-inspiring sights,
which Kordan describes as “space on Earth.”

At night, he couldn’t see anything
—he could just feel the car trudging through water and salt.

He recalls: “It seemed that we floated in open space.
Our spaceship is parked in a distance,
and stars are blinking with blue, red and yellow colors.
You stand in the deep night with stars above you,
aside from you and underneath!”

Kordan considers the entire world his home,
and he’s currently headed to the Faroe islands
and Greenland to guide photo workshops
that show how to capture the majestic scenery.
Daniel Kordan: Website | Facebook | Instagram


https://mymodernmet.com/daniel-kord...9QbsJzjx-H6aTX-P43eOMm55Kffoy68LAbIKof9v-xc9E

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Daniel Kordan.



SARA BARNES

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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