In 1930 Buckham was commissioned by Fortune magazine to produce a portfolio of aerial photographs of his chosen area of the Americas. Buckman selected central and South America. This striking photograph shows the expanse of the Chilean wilderness over which Buckham flew more than 2,000 miles. He recalled that “the desert of Chile – where rain never falls and the only living things are one species each of lizard and scorpion – there is no space to tell. Not all those desert miles were flown willingly, although I am grateful to the Chilean Government for granting me the first permission ever accorded to take aerial photographs of the region where lie Chile’s rich deposits of nitrate.”