The Lake Project 4

Using a small airplane to make aerial photographs of Lake Owens in California, David Maisel draws attention to the drastic alterations wrought by climate change and human intervention occurring in the landscapes of the American West. Aqueducts installed in the early 20th century to supply fresh water to Los Angeles resulted in the continuing depletion of the lake and the subsequent dislodging of carcinogens and dust from the lakebed, making it one of the greatest sources of particulate pollution in the United States. At times—as in this photograph—blooming bacterial colonies render the lake’s remaining water an otherworldly red.