Fazal Sheikh: Thirst, Great Salt Lake

An arresting visual document that charts the degradation of one of America’s most astonishing natural monuments

In November 2022, the water level of the Great Salt Lake fell to its lowest on record. Diverted water supply from its feeding rivers, pollution from nearby extraction plants and ravaging droughts have brought this landmark to a crisis point. As the lake reached its lowest ebb, photographer Fazal Sheikh (born 1965), together with writer Terry Tempest Williams (born 1955), walked the shoreline, awed by its epic beauty while recording the destruction of its natural habitats. As Utah native Williams writes in her essay, "Retreat," she is witnessing the death of a lake that has been a constant presence in her life. Meanwhile, Sheikh documents the shrinking salt basin from above, revealing how the lake has been exploited: plundered for its natural salts, dissected by concrete highways, discolored by toxic waste, depleted by evaporation. His images hold a mirror to the lake’s surface, charting its destruction while demanding the viewer’s visceral response.