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The Salton Sea

I was a bit surprised that for the first time in a very long while, my immediate family as a whole had not bothered getting together to break bread for Thanksgiving. A little ironic in a way because as kids we always sort of dreaded these rather less-than-entertaining family events that have always been filled with predictably prying questions from our elders, now I sort of miss it (the breaking bread part, not the questions). Instead we had a rather uneventful one at home that lasted all but 20 minutes before I had gone rushing back into the living room to watch football all day which turned out to be a lot less entertaining than how my family Thanksgiving Lunch would have been, Sigh...

And though as much as I enjoy doing certain things while the rest of the world isn't doing it along with me, some things in life just require people/family. One of these things is Thanksgiving. Sure I am an immigrant and you've probably heard me denounce some of these Holidays as not my own, but I have always been a proponent of family's eating together, at least during the Holidays- native or adopted. Long as we keep it short that is lol...

I couldn't just stay home during the long weekend though, as much as I wanted to. I went out Thursday through Saturday to shoot hoops and to try to get my knee as healthy as possible for the coming league. I doubt it'll ever be close to being 100% of course, but I must try. And to cap off the long Holiday weekend, a friend and I drove 2 1/2 hours South East of Los Angeles to a wretched and decrepit place called Salton Sea. If you wikipedia it you might just start to ask yourself why anyone would ever want to visit such a desolate looking place. It's simple really, it is for the love of Photography and things and places that are oddly fascinating. Dorky you say? Well I think I may have some photographs that might persuade you otherwise haha. That plus we drink while we shoot and not only because it makes it less dorky. It is because we love beer just as much as we love Photography itself.

The first stop was the once promising North Shore which has been sadly reduced to nothing more than just ruins and a surprising few locals living in the area. Walking around North Shore really gives you a sense of what the place could have been. There was not much to see there except for the abandoned North Shore Yacht Club and the remains of a recently demolished abandoned Motel, which interestingly enough was the main draw to that God forsaken place. Photographers sought out that Motel because it was such an interesting and charming subject. Now with its disappearance there really isn't much to North Shore anymore, not even for people like myself who find these places fascinating... We had our first beer there (a nice white Belgian) and although we did not stay too long, we both agreed it was the prime spot for the "Sunset Shot" later than day...

Next stop is the unforgettable Bombay Beach! Unforgettable I say because when you get there it would seem like you've just been transported to some place more akin to a war zone. It becomes a little bit emotional too because you almost feel sorry that such a place exist. For whom and for what you're not so sure exactly. In the photography sense however, the place is bursting with life. There was so much to see and so much to photograph, if you could stand the stench that is. That water has a 40% salinity. It was God-awful let me tell ya! But we stayed for a couple of hours and had a few more Belgians to take-in all that the Bombay Beach shore had to offer. There's the abandoned trailer home which seems to be the more popular of Bombay Beach's ruins -yes we ran into at least three other cars that came to shoot in Bombay Beach-. Dead fishes abound the beach if that's your thing lol. There's the old grill not too far away from the abandoned trailer home which almost seems to add charm to the place. Like a reminder of what life used to be on the beach -grilling some good eats-... But i think the real charm if you will to this forgotten place are all of the structures that are underwater. I mean we've all seen abandoned buildings before and it's really not that uncommon if you know where to find them. But power poles underwater is not something we don't see everyday. It's downright weird!

So back to North Shore we go for the sunset shot. Jaime expressed his displeasure as we approached the beach because the sun seemed to have settled below the horizon prematurely. I had to assure him we need not the sun above the horizon for some good Sunset Shots. Because if you have been carefully watching the skies lately since November, it has been brilliant and colorful. And let me tell ya North Shore did not disappoint and as the sun sunk farther and farther below the horizon, the more intense the Salton Sea colors became...

Well see it for yourself HERE

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Wednesday, December 03, 2008