In reality, deserts are full of colour and contrast - there are mountains and lagoons among the dunes and plains, and they often teem with life and are rich in resources. Their peoples have remarkable qualities of ingenuity and endurance, wisdom and humour; their festivals and gatherings full of colour and energy.
Maralinga, Australia
This new and exclusive six-part series, Deserts and Life, looks at how these desert realities are at odds with our perceptions, and takes a closer look at the disparate life that exists in the emptiness.
By visiting places like the Atacama Desert - which spans Chile and Peru - and boasts white salt basins, emerald-coloured lagoons, lava flows and blue, red and purple mountains, and the Sahara, which accounts for more than half the world's cobalt, manganese coffee, cocoa, palm oil and gold resources, Deserts And Life helps to re-inform our knowledge about these enormous diverse stretches of land.