©Guy Tal
Years ago when I first moved to Utah, I was already familiar with the majestic red rock canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. I also knew of the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges in the northern part of the state. But, one place that was still a mystery to me was the Great Salt Lake. A remnant of the vast and ancient Lake Bonneville, the Great Salt Lake is still a formidable body of water, the fourth largest terminal lake in the world and the 37th largest lake on Earth and yet, I rarely saw images of it. As a landscape photographer, a feature of this magnitude demanded exploration. On my initial forays I discovered a place that was almost alien: a shallow lake stretching as far as the eye could see, austere and beautiful and almost devoid of prominent features other than several islands and the faint outline of mountain ranges across its vast expanse. Best of all, I had it to myself. I fell in love instantly. At the same time, I also realized why it is not visited more often. Large stretches of its shoreline have been appropriated for industrial use and mineral extraction and the remains of its most prominent life form, the brine shrimp, pile along its shores in deep layers that emit a rather unpleasant odor. Still, the stark beauty of the place is undeniable. As I became more familiar with it, I learned to appreciate the great geological and biological diversity not obvious at first glance. In this particular area, along the shore of Antelope Island, a beach of soft white sand lines the feet of a craggy peak and stretches down to the lake. This place is home to bison, antelope, coyotes, and multitudes of shorebirds. In spring, a field of barley grass covers the sand and sways in the winds. On this day, a monsoon storm was brewing in the distance, its clouds visible in the image, building up around the distant Fremont Island. I positioned the camera just above the grasses to capture their gentle patterns, shaped by earlier winds. I decided to opt for a toned black and white presentation to further emphasize the other-worldly feeling, the gentle wind-sculptued curves, and the grand long views that characterize the lake, without the distraction of color. ~Guy Tal
Darwin Wiggett 