In March 2015, while in on assignment in the USA, photographer Toby Dixon found time to shoot a number of personal projects. One of these, The Salton Sea, is presented below.
The Salton Sea, in Southern California on the San Andreas Fault, is a man-made mistake. It was created in 1905 when engineers attempted to increase the water flow to neighbouring farms from the Colorado River. The canal walls broke and flowed onto the flat plain for two years creating the largest lake of the entire state. Developers tried to turn the disaster into the ‘Riviera of California‘ by building holiday houses, motels and water skiing ramps, but things never really took off. These days, it’s high level of salinity and pollution make it a decaying, stinking wasteland almost uninhabitable, except for a few locals and bird species unlucky enough to call this place home. Toby Dixon hung out there for a while to see the sights and discover why a man would ever need to walk around armed with a tomahawk, a machete, a hammer, and a fly swatter at seven in the morning.
The Salton Sea had been on Dixon’s list of place to visit for some time, when the opportunity to visit finally came. While there, he stayed in the only rentable house, in a little town called Bombay Beach. “At night, it’s quite simply the scariest place I’ve ever gone,” Dixon says. “And I’ve been to some seriously eerie places in my time, like Magadan in Siberia or Mauritania, for example.” What made it particularly scary, Dixon says, was the sound of barking dogs all around the house, as well as the freight trains right outside his bedroom window all night.
But photographically, the place has a certain magic about it, and at dusk, Dixon says that things get really interesting. “The light is soft, muted, technicolour and changes almost every minute. And if it weren’t for the birds landing on the horizon, you’d think you were staring at a giant glass surface. There’s just no wind or movement whatsoever. The shoreline stinks and crunches under foot, and it feels like more than just dirt and salt.” Dixon says that the locals would laugh at him when he asked how polluted the water was. Apparently, every so often, masses of dead fish line the shores. “There’s decay everywhere you look,” Dixon says, “and it’s quite sad to be around. A place that once contained the dreams of many, now lies dormant and still for the unfortunate people unlucky enough to be called ‘locals’”.
To see the full series, view the gallery at the top of the page.
About Toby Dixon
Toby Dixon is a multi award-winning photographer and director based in Sydney. He's best known for this his striking portraits of life’s unconventional characters.
Dixon’s work is embodied with an intuitive sense of composition and attention to detail that emphasises the tactile nature of his subjects. His skilful use of lighting and talent direction, combined with the ability to get to the crux of a commercial brief have made him a sought-after image-maker in Australia, North America and Asia.
He is represented in Australia and Asia by UNION Artist Management and has also recently become one half of the directing duo, STAMPEDE, who specialise in the creation of high-end branded content.
