Smithson's Spiral Jetty

[Downrigger]

This is Robert Smithson’s famous earthwork sculpture (6650 tons of rock and earth) in a remote location on the northeastern arm of the Great Salt Lake. It is one of probably a million images of this art and was taken from a commonly used perspective. As the lake approaches its all-time low (4193 ft), the entire jetty is high and dry in this stark, arid landscape. When the lake is at its historic average elevation (4200 ft) the jetty is entirely submerged. This is the best I could do with blazing early spring mid-day conditions and C&C will be most appreciated.

[IzzieK]

What is this structure made of and how big is it? Look coal-like from here...Good overview..

[Donald]

What an amazing feature, but what a beautiful image. I think the light works perfectly. It's like a layer cake - foreground, front middle ground, back middle ground, land background, sky background. Gorgeous. It's really got to be viewed at full size in the Lightbox.

[Downrigger]

What is this structure made of and how big is it? Look coal-like from here...Good overview..

Izzie: It is 1500 feet long (if you walk the coil) and 15 feet wide. The black objects in the structure are basalt boulders - mostly like the ones that are 3-4 foot diameter in the foreground.

[DEAN01]

+1 to Donald's comment.

[Shadowman]

Nice composition.

[Barbara Ponder]

Wonderful photo! Thanks for sharing!

[wilgk]

Terrific indeed, I really like the straight edges of the horizon lines & foreground lines, which for me emphasise the curves of the main subject.
A striking image, & story to explain the location.
Great post.

[bnnrcn]

Very interesting image Mark, even the spiral on its own makes another good image

[Downrigger]

Thanks John, Barbara. This really is striking, unique territory. It would be wonderful to be there when there is some real weather in the sky. Binnur – the problem with cropping out the sky and water for me is a further loss of sense of scale – already a problem.

And it would be hard to pass up those mountain reflections on the water. Refractive index increases with salinity - which makes for great reflections on this body of water.

Anyway, here’s a different perspective.