Dear Diary: Trong Nguyen and Rebecca Reeve
Fellow artists and husband and wife team, Trong Nguyen and Rebecca Reeve shared a super fun day in their lives with us, as Becky embarked to the weird Utah salt flats for a photo project for Dear Diary- possibly the most adventurous yet!
We went to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last week. Becky was finishing up a photo project that she started last December in the Everglades – shooting landscape through curtains found in local thrift stores. The flats are located about an hour and a half drive west of Salt Lake City, near a town on the Nevada/Utah border named Wendover, which is also where we stayed. There is pretty much nothing in Wendover, except truckers and gamblers. The Utah side of town is indistinguished by its run-of-the-mill accommodations like Motel 6 and Quality Inn. Across the street -literally- on the Nevada side, you have casinos like Montego Bay, Peppermill, and The Rainbow –our personal choice for the three nights! Inside it’s C-R-A-Z-Y, as one might expect! Like New York, it’s a side of America that everyone should see at least once in the their lifetimes. The Mountain West truly is glorious –screw the naysayers!– and here is a 24-hour recap.
5:30 am. It’s EARLY and we are getting out to the salt flats just before sunrise, when the light is magical for pictures.
Sun’s just coming up, we hurried setting up the gear, and now it’s a matter of racing time to get some images. Did I mention we’re in the middle of nowhere, standing on salt 6 feet deep for miles and miles?
Utah is Big Country! There’s not only salt, and we never knew it was so beautiful out here. Expanses of land and sky everywhere you go, and the occasional tumbleweed rolling by. We drove around some more through the mountains and valleys, stopping regularly for shoots.
Back and forth to the salt flats. Certain parts are really parched and crackly..
Becky’s official images will look something like this…
By noon, we head back to Wendover for lunch. Not many options. This taco cart near Dollar General was the healthiest thing we could find. At least it was cheap!
After a few chicken tacos, we drive back out to the flats. In the afternoon it gets hot and blinding, reflective as snow, so don’t leave home without the SPF 50! The flats are not dry everywhere, and there are many spots with a few inches of water, creating a massive mirror for those narcissistic mountains all around.
Salt feet.
Land speed records are attempted at the international speedway out in the flats every August, and likely you’ve seen or or two car commercials taking advantage of the no speed limit out here. People especially love doing donuts. Heed, we saw one guy’s pickup truck get stuck so it’s not as densely packed and dry as it may appear.
It also can get pretty windy out in the flats.
Coming full circle with the sunset shoot. Regrettably we freakin’ were too tired to come back out in the middle of the night when supposedly the stars are amazing. Losers!
Heading back to Wendover, with one possible evening scenario. Trong’s feelin’ right at home.
Utah bread. This is also the shape of everyone we saw at the casino.
These casinos make Yayoi Kusama’s infinity room look like chump change.
Returning to The Rainbow. Always good to be greeted by a few drunkards with just enough energy to give the double birdie goodnight salute.
Hallway to our room. Someone should do an art fair or biennale here.
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