Thoughts on Driving the Southern California Desert
Driving through Southern California, including roadside attractions, oddball art and museums, and popular mid-century Palm Springs architecture.
Tom Bartel
Salvation Mountain, Salton Sea, California
Salvation Mountain is the creation of Leonard Knight who, the legend says, had a vision. A folk art masterpiece in California’s Salton Sea desert.
East Jesus, California: a Short, Strange Trip
East Jesus, east of the Salton Sea in Southern California, is a museum. But it’s unlike any museum you’ve seen before. It’s what most people think of as an art installation, an art oasis, or a performance space. East Jesus calls its exhibit space an “Art Garden.”
Desert Sunset, Keys View, Joshua Tree, California
Why are desert sunsets so beautiful? Desert sunsets, like this one at Keys View at Joshua Tree National Park, are particularly red due to the dryness of the air. Moist air tends to scatter light more. Also, deserts tend to have cleaner air, and therefore allow the light a more direct path to the eye, making the color more dramatic.
Night Photography, Joshua Tree National Park, California
I was thinking about setting up to make just this shot when I noticed that my fellow camper Josh (or was it Michael?) had already put a lantern in his … Read more
Baptistery of St. John, Siena, Italy
When it comes to early Renaissance art, Siena is more or less thought of as Florence’s little brother. A lot of the same artists worked in Siena. Donatello and Ghiberti … Read more
The Sans Souci Palace, Potsdam, Germany
The Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam, outside Berlin, was the “getaway” for King Frederick the Great of Prussia. The pressure of being a mid 18th Century ruler was evidently so … Read more
Images of Mount Fuji, Japan
Mount Fuji, or Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration, is how UNESCO describes Mount Fuji. It is indeed an inspiration.
Saint Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome
The church of Saint Cecilia features an extraordinary sculpture of the saint below the altar. Well worth a visit just to see it.
The Medici Chapels, Florence, Italy
Maybe it was just the day–Christmas Eve–but, aside from us, there was almost nobody in the Medici Chapels. That’s lucky if you’re trying to make photos, but disturbing when you … Read more
