No mobile phones, radios or microwaves are permitted in The National Radio Quiet Zone in the state of West Virginia, a unique region home to astrophysicists and astronomers, indigenous communities and those seeking escape from electromagnetic energy.

Documenting this technology-free location, a photographic series by Paul Kranzler and Andrew Phelps, entitled The Drake Equation, sheds light on this unique group of researchers, electro-sensitive and native families.

Punctuated with lone dwellings and monumental telescopes, the images offer an eerie yet peaceful sense of isolation, bringing into focus a fascinating way of life away from the US mainstream.

The series is on view at Landesgalerie Linz from 8 November. Find out more here. 

Credits:
1. © Andrew Phelps & Paul Kranzler.
2. Paul Kranzler / Andrew Phelps , Forest Lodge where Mischa, her father and her grandmother live © Andrew Phelps & Paul Kranzler.
3. Paul Kranzler / Andrew Phelps, 140 ft. Telescope, Green Bank, West Virginia, 2015 © Andrew Phelps & Paul Kranzler.