Cathedral City

These other-worldly structures — more commonly known as the Trona Pinnacles — are ancient tufa rock formations created underwater by the interaction of calcium carbonate and blue-green algae during three distinct ice ages, approximately 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. Distinguished by age, elevation, and form, they appear as towers, tombstones, ridges, and cones. Once submerged, they now rise from the desert floor, where visitors have named the formations in response to their evocative silhouettes and perceived Gestalten. The site was historically known as Cathedral City, a name that reflects the monumental stillness of a landscape shaped by water, time, and retreating ice.

Tufa is a porous variety of limestone formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from water, typically in lakes, springs, or streams. It often forms in association with biological activity, such as algae or bacteria, which helps trigger mineral deposition. The Desert Holly (Artemisia tridentata) is a common plant species found in the area and in the harsh environment of the Mojave Desert.

I discovered this striking landscape while exploring Google Earth right before traveling to Los Angeles to shoot REVISITED. One year later, arriving on site, it was instantly clear, why this place that looks like it belongs to another planet, has captured the imagination of popular culture and appeared on Space Age covers or in science-fiction films and TV shows, including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Planet of the Apes, Battlestar Galactica, Lost in Space, Land of the Lost, and Westworld, among others.