Salvation Mountain - An American Photo Story
I Found Jesus In The Desert, Literally! | Jonathan Clark
FreeNZ cameraman and videographer Jonathan brings us along on one of his many photo journeys from his travels whilst he was living in the US for a time. So sit back, forget about politics for 2 secs, and enjoy a bit of a special journey to a quirky, unusual place from the comfort of your arm chair.
In 2007, the cult classic movie “Into the Wild”, directed by Sean Penn, was released. It told the true story of a young man Christopher McCandless, who just graduated from college in the early 1990s and disillusioned with post-modern society, packed up his life, disappeared from his family and ventured across the USA and up into Alaska. What happened to Christopher in the Alaskan wild, I don’t want to give the spoiler, you’ll have to watch the movie to find out for yourself.
On Christopher’s journey he spent time in the Sonoran Desert in Southern California at a place known as “Slab City”, a former WWII military training ground that had long shut down just after the war, but was now inhabited by a new type of people: retired folk, hobos and travellers, wishing to be away from general society and living off the grid - rent free.
The name of “Slab City” came about because when the military tore down their buildings they left behind the concrete foundations, which most to this day are in excellent condition. The new residents moved their RV’s and huts onto these slabs and started a whole new communal way of living. During the winter months the Slab City population can swell into the thousands, as the temperatures can hover around a comfortable 20 degrees celsius. Come the summer months the temperatures soar to over 40 degrees Celsius and only a few hundred remain.
In 1984, a resident of Slab City named Leonard Knight (1931-2014), having found God, began the rest of his life’s journey to create a large piece of landscape art on the outskirts of the town called “Salvation Mountain”, which he dedicated to The Creator.
In 2007 both he and his art was immortalised in the film “Into the Wild” which has since inspired tens of thousands of people, including myself in 2018, to make the pilgrimage to the desert. Here is a visual account is what I experienced.
Entrance to Salvation Mountain on the outskirts of Slab City.
Salvation Mountain from above. The hot dry environment of 40+ degrees celsius leaves sand piles scattered through out the monument and bleaches out the colour.
Morning dog walk on top of the mountain. The mountains in the distant, border onto the Salton Sea (See later in this article) and the Joshua Tree National Park.
Adobe (not the software company), made of a mixture of dirt, clay mud and straw, covered with house paint layer the dusty ground. The structure in the background is built-up with hay bails and wooden branches then covered in adobe and house paint.
The public would donate house paint to the late Leonard Knight and help him with the big task of painting.
Memorial plaque to Leonard Knight.
A Vice News story, “Leonard Knight and his Technicolor Mountain” (2013) documenting the artist’s life at Salvation Mountain.
Since Leonard Knight’s passing, a caretaker is stationed at Salvation Mountain full time to maintain the earth sculpture and converse with the visitors. Note the drops of paint on his clothing - there is something always in need of a touch up.
Detail of “God Loves You” made with adobe and house paint.
Close up of Leonard’s giant earth sculpture. You can see how it’s both rugged and fragile at the same time. The paint acts as a shield for the fibrous adobe material underneath.
Jesse Cavalieri, aka Jesus, inside the side chamber of Salvation Mountain. The area is constructed with hay bales, pieces of wood, car doors, windows and sealed with adobe and house paint.
Interior of the side chamber. I returned to salvation mountain in 2020, two years after taking this photo. They had closed the area because the elements of the hot sun and torrential rains had taken a toll on the structure and it was starting to crumble. The art is in a constant state of upkeep and renewal.
Jesse (aka Jesus) gives the viewer a 360VR tour around Salvation Mountain.
The monument’s letter box.
A scene from the movie Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn. Filmed in Slab City & Salvation Mountain. Many people, including myself, have come from a far to visit this art monument because of the magic they felt in the movie about the place.
Painted car with bible quotes.
Painted car with bible quotes. In the background is the caretaker residence.
Truck with bible quotes. This truck was Leonard Knight’s home in the desert for many years.
Interior of Leonard Knight’s house truck.
Radiator of Leonard Knight’s house truck.
Driving a few hundred meters down the road one reaches the entrance of Slab City.
The roads are dusty and laid out in a grid. Note the foundations from the former army structures. The concrete on them is in excellent condition, even after all these years.
This was photographed in the early winter of December when temperatures were comfortable and there was a higher population in residence. I was wearing T-shirt during the day and sweater/jacket during the night.
One particular conversation I had with a local at Slab City was about the darker side of the place. I was informed that “Tweakers” (a drug user addicted to crystal meth) on occasion move into the area and cause trouble. There are stories of them setting up home on other residents boundaries and theft occurs. When one of these tweakers are caught they are told to leave and take their possessions with them. If the problem persists and they don’t leave, then “Slab Justice” comes into play. The tweaker might leave for the day and when they return to their encampment later, its nothing but a pile of ashes.
Former Olympic sized swimming pool used by the military, now a skate park.
Artists come far and wide to visit Slab City / Salvation Mountain. This mural is painting on the interior of a disused water tank.
The same artist, according to my memory, a Los Angeles native, painted another mural on this nearby water tank. This same tank also serves as someone’s home. If anybody recognises the artists work, please let us know his/her name in the comments.
The resident of the water tank home. Entrance inside the tank can be found in an opening at the side where the hoola hoop is leaning against it. I can only imagine how the water tank could become a roasting oven in the mid summer sun.
A family home, built from scratch. They found their piece of land, laid claim to it - no government titles here and no mortgage (i.e death contract) also. You can see that they have to get all their water delivered. No hookups to the water, sewer and electrical system here.
The owners gave us a tour around their home and how they built it (check out the adobe walls). Notice the vast amount of found objects. There always has to be at least one adult home, as sometimes ‘undesirables’ will move into slab city and leaving one’s land unoccupied, may open it up for somebody else to lay claim to it.
Children raised in the off-grid home, proving it entirely possible to raise a healthy, happy, cohesive, educated and tight family unit outside ‘the system’.
The Slab City Library. (*Bonus editor find: This pic features two members of the indie band - Men I Trust)
The Slab City Librarian.
Come night time, people visit the local home-made bar for a bit of entertainment and socialising.
After the bar, take a wander down to the road to a bonfire in the distance and chat with the locals and weekend visitors to the town.
The Slab City Christian Center. No small town is complete without its church.
Morning time at my AirBnB in Slab City. My host on the left with town locals (middle & right). You can find great deals staying Slab City staying in a hut or RV. Note: The town is not for the germaphobe, you have to be good with a layer of dust on everything.
My AirBnB host on the right and his friend Bo Keeley on the left. I had a good chat with Bo and it turns out he is the most famous Hobo/Vagabond in existence! I’ve even heard his name mentioned by one famous millionaire on a popular YouTube podcast. Bo takes all walks of life and teaches them the “way of the rail” by jumping on the back of trains in the dead of night and taking the ‘free ride’ across America.
Bo gave me a copy of his book, “Executive Hobo - Riding the American dream” which comes from the same vein as Jack Keroac’s “On the Road”. You can find more of Bo’s books here and more information his his wiki page.
My AirBnB host (a former trucker) beside a portrait a guest painted for him on an RV.
Bo sporting the latest Slab City fashion trend, held together with string. Nothing goes to waste on the Slab.
Random installation art.
On the outskirts of Slab City is “East Jesus” - an Eco-themed, desert art project with a sculpture garden of art pieces made from junk & found objects.
East Jesus art.
The caretaker of East Jesus.
East Jesus art. I’m quite sure inspiration from the film “They Live” may have crept through here.
Downed plane, East Jesus.
Helicopter car, East Jesus.
Steampunk Combi, East Jesus.
WALL-E / Short Circuit robot, East Jesus.
Cyclops hippy, East Jesus.
Zombie bust, East Jesus.
Shore birds foraging for food on the Salton Sea. Slab City is attached to the small town of Niland which sits alongside the inland sea, a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water. The lake appeared in its its current form in 1905 after a canal, fed from the Colorado River broke and spilled into the Imperial Valley for two years forming the 24 x 56 km lake. In the 1950s & 60s, the area became a resort destination with hotels and holidays homes because of the bird wetlands and fishing.
Looking across the beautiful mirror lake, something feels eerily off.
Looking above paints an entirely different picture. Since the 1980s, with water draining from the lake and evaporation, it’s now a collapsed eco-system due to high concentrations of salinity and fertiliser from farming runoff.
The once abundant fish colony has mostly been wiped out. Fish carcasses are scattered along the shoreline.
Even a lone pelican looks a little miserable at the slim pickings.
Bombay Beach, a once popular getaway for Salton Sea beachgoers until the 1980s. Now it feels like a very run-down shanty town.
North Shore Beach Yatch Club. Not a whole lot of sailing happening these days in the murky puddle.
As dystopian and ecologically-damaged as the Salton Sea may be, one cannot deny the beauty of this vista.
In Closing…
Lastly, the song “Society” by Jerry Hannan. It was performed by Eddie Vedder in the film “Into the Wild”.
The back story behind the song and how it got into the movie: Sean Penn was a regular in a local bar where Jerry performed in Ross, a small town in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sean, been a fan of Jerry’s music, asked him to score a piece for the film. At a later date, Jerry recalled watching an initial screening of the movie (an absolute terror for any film director) at Sean’s house and the film cut was about four hours long. One viewer was fast asleep - even more of a nightmare for a director. However, with a bit of good editing, the film and soundtrack went on to become a cult classic of 21st century cinema.
A note of appreciation
Thanks for taking the time to view this photography essay! Many more to come, both at home and abroad. We are a tiny team operating on a budget that makes a shoestring look 10km long, so any financial support provided by Kiwis is surely appreciated. You can help keep this going by donating through the portals below or signing up monthly for our Substack.
With God, all things are possible, apparently even happiness in a desert :)