24 photographers, 24 hours

ON April 2, two dozen photographers fanned out across Joshua Tree National Park to document the land of boulders and fronds in just 24 hours. Some camped in the north at Indian Cove; some set up tents at Cottonwood in the south. Some started at 3 a.m.; some took time to scout a special spot. “Site Lines,” the resulting exhibition, covers funky artistic turf: an eerily lighted night shot titled “4:45:35” by Francis Specker, below; infrared images of climbers on ghostly rock walls; an artistic take on a daisy where the spots of ladybugs seep onto its petals. The more familiar desert drama also plays out in shots of arch-framed boulders and blood-red ocotillo blooms. In a description of the project, curator Georg Burwick writes that the ticking clock speeded up “the process of familiarizing exotic spaces through representation in landscape photography that usually accumulates quietly over time.” So although it’s hard to think about hiking in Joshua Tree in the swelter of summer, breezing through 54 eclectic images in an air-conditioned gallery might provide a soothing solution. The exhibition, which ends Dec. 31, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. at the California Museum of Photography at UC Riverside, 3824 Main St. Call (951) 784-3686 or go to www.cmp.ucr.edu.

-- Mary Forgione