This haunting image by photographer Marcus Doyle is taken from his
"Salton Sea" series, which forms part of his Thursday by the Sea
exhibition, opening at London's Margaret Street Gallery this Tuesday.
Click here or 'View Gallery' to launch gallery
Formed accidentally after a flood in 1905, when water from the Colorado River overflowed into the area, Salton Sea – the largest lake in California – is a shallow, saline rift lake, situated directly on the San Andreas Fault. Such was its allure in the 1950s, it was a bigger tourist hotspot than Yosemite National Park. But, as the sea became polluted with sewage, and its water levels began to fluctuate, to the extent that whole towns were flooded with filthy water, tourists, along with the local population, were driven away.
Inspired by Richard Misrach's photographs of the area, Doyle created this series of images between 2004 and 2005, when he would travel to the waters from Los Angeles every Thursday, fondly referring to his trips as "going to the seaside".
In this series, Doyle, who shoots exclusively on film, has captured the ghostly quality of abandonment and decay in this peculiar, forgotten landscape, yet also hints at a sense of rebirth, thanks to the extraordinary quality of light, which lends his creations a serene, if eerie, atmosphere.
The exhibition will be showing until 2nd January 2013.
From The independent.
Formed accidentally after a flood in 1905, when water from the Colorado River overflowed into the area, Salton Sea – the largest lake in California – is a shallow, saline rift lake, situated directly on the San Andreas Fault. Such was its allure in the 1950s, it was a bigger tourist hotspot than Yosemite National Park. But, as the sea became polluted with sewage, and its water levels began to fluctuate, to the extent that whole towns were flooded with filthy water, tourists, along with the local population, were driven away.
Inspired by Richard Misrach's photographs of the area, Doyle created this series of images between 2004 and 2005, when he would travel to the waters from Los Angeles every Thursday, fondly referring to his trips as "going to the seaside".
In this series, Doyle, who shoots exclusively on film, has captured the ghostly quality of abandonment and decay in this peculiar, forgotten landscape, yet also hints at a sense of rebirth, thanks to the extraordinary quality of light, which lends his creations a serene, if eerie, atmosphere.
The exhibition will be showing until 2nd January 2013.
From The independent.
2 comments:
Hi Marcus,
I'm Katie and I wrote this for the Indy, hope you liked; I absolutely love the pieces I've seen by you so far, and the history of Salton Sea is fascinating - I'm a travel writer too and made me really want to visit the area myself!
I'm coming to the exhibition on Tuesday so will hopefully met you then.
x Katie
Just read the IoS article and had to find out more. I love photos of decay and beauty together. Good luck with the exhibition. Jim Shepherd, Glencoe, Scotland
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