Drought, Dust, and Flood: A Review

Visitors enjoying the Drought, Dust, and Flood exhibit. Photo by Megan Silva.

The first artist reception of Fall 2023 happened at the Reynolds’s Gallery this past Thursday. After a long day of classes, the assortment of free wine, chips and salsa, and cheese offered at the event were a nice refreshment (I really liked the Sauvignon Blanc). As I looked at the images for the first time, I observed that many of the photographs looked like they were taken on the surface of another planet. There were strange machines, funky-colored dirt, and patches of land that looked like leaves. I knew absolutely nothing about the Owen Valley, or the Los Angeles Aqueduct. So I went into a nearby classroom to listen to the photographer, Jennifer Little, talk about her study of this region of Southern California.

In her two-and-a-half hour presentation, Little shared with us the political, scientific, and legal history of Owen Valley; and how that history turned Owens Lake into a toxic source of air pollution. In the early twentieth century, Frederick Eaton and William Mulholland wanted to increase the supply of water to Los Angeles so that the city could grow. Once Eaton became Mayor of Los Angeles, he encouraged people to surreptitiously purchase land around the Owen River for the purpose of diverting water from the river to Los Angeles. This caused Owens Lake to dry up, and the dry alkali began to turn to carcinogenic dust. 

Initially drawn to the area due to the strange-looking sprinklers, Little has been documenting Owen Valley for ten years. The strange-looking sprinklers are there to re-hydrate the ground to prevent the alkali flat from eroding and emitting toxic dust particles into the air. This is not the only mitigation effort made; one of the most striking images of the collection features textured terrain surrounded by water that resembles small beaches for shorebirds to land on, and distribute organic material. Despite being utilitarian, this sculptured landscape looks like a work of art (and in my opinion, a bunch of leaves. Did anyone else see that?) Little’s images are full of paradox: beautiful landscapes made out of toxic material. 

Drought, Dust and Flood will be displayed in the Reynolds Gallery until October 14th.