At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands before our camera, to honour what is greater and more interesting than we are.
Robert Adams
Mono Lake is a graphic reminder of the consequences of human activity for the natural world. In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) began diverting water from Mono Lake’s tributary streams, sending it 350 miles south to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles. The impact on the lake was dramatic.
This is what is known as a terminal lake, as it has no outlet. It is fed by a number of tributaries and also by underwater springs. Because these waters have nowhere to go, they evaporate in the desert air. The combination of this natural process with unnatural human interventions has resulted in a captivating and unworldly landscape. A world of jagged rocky outcrops known as tufa towers reflected in perfectly still waters.
The science behind the tufa towers
Beneath Mono Lake, calcium-rich freshwater springs seep up from the lake bottom and mix with lake water rich in carbonates. As the calcium comes in contact with the carbonates in the lake, a chemical reaction occurs, creating calcium carbonate, or limestone. The calcium carbonate precipitates around the springs, and over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower grows around each. These tufa towers can grow to heights of more than 30 feet underwater.
As LA drained the lake’s waters it dropped by forty-five feet in forty years, lost half its volume, and doubled in salinity. Tufa towers that were below the surface started to appear above it. Once above the water line, the towers can no longer grow and are susceptible to erosion, creating some often-beautiful shapes. But while we may be awed by their beauty, the low lake levels are harmful to wildlife here, especially the brine shrimp and alkali flies that are food for several million annual migratory birds.
In 1978 the Mono Lake Committee was formed to fight back against the draining of water from the lake. In 1983 they won a legal battle compelling Los Angeles to partially replenish the lake level, and in 1994 it was agreed that the water should rise to 6,392 feet above sea level, as a balanced solution to the needs of people and wildlife. It isn’t there yet, being still nearly nine feet below that level, but must be considerably higher than when we first visited in 1991.
Revisiting Mono Lake
We were stunned by the lake then, but our old slide photos fail to capture its beauty, so on our recent California road trip we were determined to include it in our itinerary. We visited first thing in the morning, after an early breakfast, and for a while found ourselves the only people at the lake shore.
For this week’s Lens Artists challenge Edigio asks us to explore how we portray silence in our photography. He introduces us to the principles of silence in photography espoused by the American photographer Robert Adams. These include:
- silence of light
- silent witness to environmental change
- landscapes without human presence
- silence as a form of protest against the destruction of the environment and the loss of natural beauty
I could have hunted through my archives as I often do, searching for images to convey moments of silence. But I decided instead to share with you the silence I experienced here by the shore of Mono Lake, as it fits so well with those principles of Adams’. And unusually for me, I’m opening with a brief video clip so you can experience that silence for yourselves as you view my images:
While I like to shoot video from time to time, still photography is my passion. How best to capture that silence then in a still image?
Still lake waters help, as do the reflections in them. A total lack of other people of course. And a calm blue sky overhead. The only living things in my images, apart from the many flies too tiny to be seen, are the birds, but they were largely silent too.
I’ll finish with a couple of photos taken from the path down to the lake. There are many tufa towers to be seen there too, a graphic illustration of how high the water levels once were. Where today we park our cars and walk several hundred yards to reach this shore, was once under water. The 1994 agreement won’t restore water levels to this extent, as it’s a compromise between the needs of people and of wildlife and the environment, but it’s nevertheless a demonstration that such compromises can be reached. A lesson for us all perhaps?
I last visited Mono Lake in October 2024, when all these photos were taken
31 Comments
wetanddustyroads
Wow Sarah, the places you visit! It’s great to see a short video in your post — and experience the deafening silence at Mono Lake. Your still images with the reflections in the water are lovely.
Annie Berger
Had never heard of Mono Lake and its interesting tufa towers so I was interested in reading the story behind their development. Heartwarming to know that the water levels are rising again thanks to the successful legal challenge.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Annie 🙂 Yes, I found that reassuring although I know some of my readers are disappointed they won’t be going back to their previous level.
equinoxio21
Very well done. Again.
(Made me think of lake Hannington… half a century -or more- ago…)
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you (again!) 😊 I don’t know Lake Hannington, I’ll have to look it up.
sheetalbravon
I have heard of stalagmites but tufa tower is new for me. Thank god for your pictures that satisfied my curiosity perfectly. You nailed the photo challenge, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh, thank you so much 😊 I was so taken with the silence here it was the obvious place to share for the challenge! I’m glad you learned something new with the tufa towers explanation and images.
Leya
Serenely beautiful – and sad. Your images are all speaking silence.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you so much Ann-Christine 😊
Sofia Alves
Beautifully captured, Sarah. I couldn’t stop feeling sad, compromise solution or not.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sofia 😊
Klausbernd
Dear Sarah,
Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures that radiate silence.
The water level of the lake is unfortunate, on the other hand, it is a compromise that seems to work.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 🙂 Yes, this compromise does seem to be working and it’s probably the case that we need to be creating similar balances elsewhere rather than see solutions as always black or white!
Klausbernd
We completely agree with you. We live in one of Britain’s first nature and wildlife reserves. We always have to find compromises between living a ‘normal’ life here and conservation efforts.
Leanne Cole
You got some great photos there Sarah. I’m jealous. They look fantastic and you can hear the silence.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Leanne 😊 I’m sure you would enjoy taking photos here if you ever get the chance to visit!
JohnRH
Great subject, great photos thereof.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you John 🙂
EgÃdio
Sarah, you found the perfect subject to explore silence in photography. I recall our only visit to Mono Lake a few years ago. Your beautiful photos bring back that beautiful silence we experience on those shores. Thanks for a great gallery and post.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Egidio 😊 I’m glad you too found Mono Lake to be as beautiful. Thanks too for the introduction to those thoughts of Robert Adams.
EgÃdio
You’re very welcome. I enjoy subjective ideas that are open to interpretation in photography.
Anne Sandler
Wonderful Mono Lake images Sarah. The harsh sunlight gave you a challenge and you won!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂 It was early enough in the day that the sun was relatively low, which certainly helped the images.
Anonymous
Stunning photos! I have never heard of this lake nor its sad tale. However, battles over water and water rights in the west is something I have known about for a long time. Not to mention other catastrophic human mismanagement of the environment in California.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much ‘anonymous’ 😀 At least this battle has a fairly happy ending, others were less happy (such as Owens Lake which my Virtual Tourist friend Mark mentions below)
Tina Schell
Oh dear Sarah – what a very sad statement on the state of our world. Yes the lake, as you’ve shown, is beautiful but how awful that it was so depleted and also IMHO awful that it will not be restored to its original depth. I’d never heard of it but that does not make me any less sad. Your images are wonderful, what a natural marvel the lake is and must have been.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Tina, although tbh I intended this to be a positive story about conservation rather than a sad one! Yes, in an ideal world maybe the lake would be restored to its original levels but it is already much higher than it was and able to sustain wildlife again (I can vouch for the flies!) The Mono Lake Committee battled through the courts for ten years to get this ruling – it just shows what can be achieved if the right people take on the right cause. And a little bit of me can’t help but even be glad that it won’t be fully restored, as that would again submerge those beautiful tufa towers!
mtncorg
Alas, LA Water owns most of the water coming not only into Mono Lake but the rest of Owens Valley to the south. Owens Lake used to have boats, but not anymore. LA has always been aggressive in trying to find water sources for its ever-increasing populations whether it is the Colorado, eastern Sierra or attempts to source water from the Pacific Northwest. The Owens Valley and the east side of the Sierra along US 395 is one of magic, though the megalopolis to the south always tries to move that magic to the south.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I knew about Owens Lake and thought about mentioning it here but I wanted to focus more on the beauty of Mono Lake. We drove the Owens Valley on our previous California trip and it is indeed magical!
margaret21
Oh Sarah. I absolutely experieced the silence here – even without your video. What a truly serene place.
Sarah Wilkie
I’m so glad that came across in my images – thank you Margaret 😊