Desert Shores

The Salton Sea is a vast saline lake located in an arid depression in southwestern California, 227 feet below sea level and on the San Andreas Fault. It was formed by a spillover from the Colorado River in the early 20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was a popular tourist destination and paradise for fishing enthusiasts, with numerous hotels, marinas and yacht clubs lining its shores. Frequented by Hollywood celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys and Jerry Lewis, it became known as the ‘California Riviera’ or the ‘Miracle in the Desert’, attracting stars seeking water sports and glamorous parties just a few hours from Los Angeles. The region experienced strong economic and demographic growth at this time, symbolising the idea that the American Dream was accessible to all.

However, by the 1970s, the lake’s water level began to drop and its salinity increased dramatically. The mirage gradually faded… No-man’s-lands and ghost towns took its place, with abandoned resorts and the skeletons of stranded yachts. The seaside resorts have been replaced by mobile home parks, where the poor, the marginalised and Mexican immigrants now live. Today, the Salton Sea is surrounded by a deserted and desolate landscape; the water is polluted by fertilisers and pesticides in the runoff; algal blooms are decimating the fish population. As the lake shrinks, toxic beaches are exposed, generating dust laden with contaminants and causing respiratory problems among residents. These growing health risks are a cause for concern among the authorities.

The unique landscapes of the Salton Sea region raise social, political and environmental questions. They are metaphors for disillusionment and disenchantment, reflecting a lost America — an era when everything seemed possible and accessible to all citizens. These unusual places are similar to other areas of extreme poverty found across the United States — a kind of Third World within America — where the most deprived people live, out of necessity, in the persistent shadow of a shattered California Dream. As the dark underside of the Hollywood dream, these places perfectly illustrate the collapse of a collective mirage.