Getty Museum

Owens Lake, California

Date

1963

Medium

Chromogenic print

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

>Owens Lake is a very unique place in the United States. When the winter rains come, the lake fills with water; and when it dehydrates, it goes through several cycles. There's a little ponding of brine; it hasn't formed white crystals yet. Those will dry up before the year is out and turn white crystalline salt in place of that. > >--William Garnett Many of William Garnett's later photographs, like this one of Owens Lake, were shot in color. The orange-red diagonal shape resembles a flame with whitish edges, with surrounding hues ranging from cream to black. These colors indicate the presence of salt-eating microbacteria, representing a stage in the lake's annual cycle of flooding and drying out. Garnett made at least 100 images of Owens Lake during his career as an aerial photographer. Many of his commercial clients included geological and chemical industries, and the lake--located in the Mojave Desert--was along one of his frequent flight paths. Subjects like Owens Lake demonstrate Garnett's lifelong concern for the conservation of natural resources. The Owens Valley Aqueduct, built between 1908 and 1913, siphoned off the once-fertile valley's water for use by a growing Los Angeles population, creating an ecological disaster.

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