Daniel Everett and Professor Paul Adams, Photography

My goal in approaching this project was to capture the unique and unconventional beauty found in the geographical layout and biological make-up of the Great Salt Lake and surrounding areas. Rather than taking a traditional approach to documenting this often-photographed landscape, I wanted to find a new way to reinvigorate the subject and further engage viewers by offering them a new perspective. My goal was to complete a series of large, color images of the area taken entirely from a low-flying airplane. By photographing this landscape from an altitude of approximately one thousand feet above ground level I would be able to completely abstract my subject and further emphasize the amazing relationships of texture and color that are completely unique to this location. In addition, by utilizing a medium format camera I would be able to present these images at a size (three feet by three feet) that would broaden the interaction between the subject and viewer.

In planning and arranging this project I ran into a number of early roadblocks. Due to this area’s proximity to the Salt Lake International Airport there are sanctions and complex restrictions placed upon this airspace. Largely for security and safety reasons, much of the area I originally intended to explore is completely shut off from public access. In addition, many of the surrounding areas I had mapped out to document are owned by various mining companies who also restrict air space access. After reassessing the locations I would be able to fly over, I worked with my mentor Paul Adams to find a plane and secure a pilot for the project. We managed to successfully make all of the preliminary arrangements, however, due to reoccurring scheduling issues and my departure for an overseas internship, the project was temporarily put on hold.

In the fall of 2006, I was able to readdress my project and I began approaching mining companies in the Salt Lake area as well as aviation companies who could negotiate airspace access on my behalf. After a seemingly endless number of appeals, I was finally able to arrive at an arrangement with Kennecott Utah Copper and a local helicopter company. By means of these negotiations I managed to secure airspace access to photograph from a helicopter over a number of mines and a portion of the Great Salt Lake and the surrounding salt flats during the month of December.

Flying in an open-door helicopter over those areas was a truly amazing experience. Up to that point, my only real references for what the landscape would look like from above was the occasional obscured glance from the window of a departing flight or low-resolution satellite images found on the internet. Needless to say, these previous interactions did not do the landscape justice. There is an amazing, overarching sense of organization and natural composition to the lake and surrounding areas. The colors found in the landscape there seem so unnatural in and of themselves, yet at the same time completely harmonious to the scene as a whole. Additionally, there is a mind-boggling complexity to the man-made excavations of the Kennecott copper mine that is hard to put into words. Unfortunately, much of the flight was hindered by temperature related equipment malfunctions. Due to the open doors and the altitude, the temperature inside the helicopter was nearly negative twenty degrees Fahrenheit, which in turn caused the electronic components of the camera to sporadically seize up.

Although not every aspect of this project turned out how I had originally hoped and planned, the experience has served to teach me a great deal about researching, planning and negotiating access for photography projects. It has also assisted me tremendously in refining and developing my personal goals and ideas in photography. While I don’t feel that the project has yet yielded a complete portfolio or enough images to formulate a full show, it certainly has created a basis for future bodies of work and has opened the door to numerous additional projects. In addition, through the experience gained from this project I have already secured several employment opportunities assisting other photographers in similar undertakings.