Richard Misrach: Salton Sea

Misrach’s Desert Canto III: The Flood (1983-85) is an ecologically engaged series focused on the Salton Sea, an artificial desert lake created in the 1900s. Stocked with fish in the 1950s to promote tourism, by the 1980s it became highly saline with toxic algae blooms and wildlife die-offs.

Color photograph of telephone poles, decrepit trailer homes, and vehicles partly submerged in still water
Color photograph of a large body of water with several wooden stakes peeking above the water on an overcast day
Color photograph of a submerged gas station in large body of water with mountain range on the horizon
Color photograph of an abandoned building with abandoned cars and rowboats slightly submerged in water with mountain range on horizon
Color photograph of a flooded abandoned garage with a distressed rowboat
Color photograph of a submerged street with a street sign in the center and mountain range on the horizon
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Color photograph of the US/Mexico border with a mountain range in the distance with pinkish blue skies

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Color photograph of the distant Golden Gate Bridge under a linear break in the clouds

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Color photograph of a road receding into the distant desert with red-orange tablelands and snow-capped mountains on the horizon

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