Photos: Pamela Littky's 'Vacancy' Shows Stunning Images of Life in Death Valley

Despite descriptions of unholy temperatures and dust storms, the deserted towns of Death Valley are cloaked in mystique. How do lives converge in a place defined by decay? How do people live in a place seemingly untouched by time? Photographer Pamela Littky's new work, Vacancy, explores the desert communities that seem so removed from the world. For four years, Littky drifted through towns in Nevada and California, capturing striking portraits of life way out west. The resulting work shows the humanity that unfolds in the most desolate of places.

"I found myself wanting to explore these small towns and observe the kind of people who would live in the middle of nowhere where temperatures hold at 120 degrees for several months of the year, where the nearest grocery store was 45 minutes away, and where there is seemingly nothing doing," Littky said in a press release. Check out several of the images in Vacancy in the gallery.

Vacancy is now available for purchase through Amazon. See more of Littky's work at her website.