Salton Sea // California

What can I say that hasn't already been said about the Salton Sea? This engineering disaster was at one point a hot spot of boating, fishing and resort life for many in the 1950s. I have had this location on my list for a long time. I started photographing abandoned architecture and location and the like since before I started doing portraiture. Its what I consider "personal work" The history, the story and whats left after have always drawn me in and the Salton Sea is no different. For so long it seemed unattainable that I would reach this destination...and here we are. Just for reference feel free to browse Youtube for documentaries. Well worth the watch.

Arriving on the North West end of the Sea(North Shore) you could see the shimmer of a large body of water tucked away in the mountains surrounded by farm land and desert. Going a little further South you could begin to see the barren remains. Straight away my mind kept going back to the scenes in my years of research of what this place was, at one point bigger than Palm Springs and the Rat Pack and other big names frequented. I was amazed at the amount of Tilapia carcasses lining the shore, as well as the amount of birds that in habit these waters. The beach was made of salt deposit and fish bones. Quite a sight...I would say "breath taking" but that was the smell. We pushed on to Bombay Beach which was a somewhat inhabited community. Onward to the south end of the lake and up the west end to Salton City. We covered the outer perimeter of the lake. The town was set to thrive at one point and now left with $7,000 lots and empty streets. I generally try not to "toot my own horn" but the images produced on this trip are some of my favorite of my career.

Thank you for looking and enjoy

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Route 66 // California

I, being from "landlocked" Indiana it can be underwhelming to say the least. Last year I focused my California trip around late 80 / early 90s skateboarding and the art forms that I drew so much inspiration from as a child and this year, not unlike most other trips was about hot rodding and the culture and what better place to explore than the historic and infamous Route 66. The journey from Los Angeles to my first destination of Baghdad, California was about a two hour car ride but good snacks and conversation makes a trip a bit less arduous. Through Ludlow and eventually Amboy, California

One thing that always seems to play against me is time. The sun was slowly getting closer to the mountains and I knew that being without a tripod I may have my work cut out for me. Once upon the the iconic road that gave way to many road side attractions, motels, motor inns and cafes in the 50s, the era I probly embrace the most I forgot about the day light that was fading and thought about the cars, trucks and the people on their many road trips to the west on this throughway. The I-40 Highway was built and diverted most traffic away from Route 66 in the mid 60s and most of these places continued to slowly die off. The road is extremely rough and really doesn't have the feel that generations before me got to enjoy. This will be the first small installment of images from my exploration of California. Much gratitude goes out to my family, Mr. Ian Jenkins for his support and wheel time.