These images may look strangely familiar, but you would be wrong if you thought they were taken in a galaxy far, far away...As the wise Yoda says: “The dark side clouds everything.” A photographer named Rä di Martino scoured the deserts of North Africa after she discovered that Hollywood makes it common practice to leave their sets to rust like a decommissioned droid in the sun.
How did she get started on this otherworldly journey? Through Google Maps of course. Originally she found an image that depicted abandoned props from "The English Patient" somewhere in Tunisia. Through further evaluation, she happened to stumble upon the set that belonged to George Lucas' Star Wars epic, particularly the planet of Tatooine (AKA young Anakin and Luke Skywalker's old stomping grounds). Although finding them via satellite view was simple, getting there would be another thing...Luckily she met a driver who had a keen sense of the desert and with a little Jedi mind trick she persuaded some local police officers for directions to the abandoned sight. The whole trek lasted about a month, spanning over three different sets where she shot both digital and film; fitting since revisiting these sets brings forth a strong sense of nostalgia. The collected works were compiled into an exhibit called "Ruins in Reverse" which is now viewing at London's Tate Modern until June 24th.
Not long after seeing the deteriorated state of these iconic sets, Star Wars fans raised over $11,000 to help renovate Luke's old house. With this money a small group of these super fans set out to the desert (with some help from local craftsmen) to repair, re-plaster and paint this small domed building in 120 heat. One of them even got married outside of it. Now that is some dedication!