Integratron
Yucca Valley, CA
A 38-foot-tall dome structure located in Landers, built by aerospace engineer George Van Tassel beginning in 1957, intended as an electrostatic generator for rejuvenation. The all-wood dome was constructed without nails or screws using a technique based on the work of Nikola Tesla. The white dome set against the flat desert landscape creates a surreal photographic subject.
Photography Guide
- Best Time
- blue hour
- Crowds
- Quiet
- Shot Types
- widedetailportrait
- Best Seasons
- springsummerfallwinter
Author's Comments
The first time I drove out to Landers I missed the turn twice. The dome is white and it is large, and yet against the flatness of that particular stretch of high desert it manages to disappear until you are almost on top of it. Then it appears, suddenly and completely, and the scale is wrong in a way that is hard to describe. Thirty-eight feet should not feel monumental. Out here it does. I have photographed the Integratron in nearly every light and the version I keep returning to is blue hour in winter, when the sky goes that particular cobalt that only the Mojave seems to produce and the white wood of the dome holds the last warmth from the day. There is a moment, maybe ten minutes long, when the structure looks lit from within even though it is not. That is the frame. Wide is the obvious choice and the obvious choice is correct. Step back further than you think you need to. The desert floor is so flat and so empty that the dome reads best when it is small in the frame, surrounded by Joshua trees and creosote and nothing else. A wider composition tells the truth of the place better than a tight one ever could. If you can stay past full dark, do. The light pollution is minimal and the Milky Way arcs over the dome from spring through fall in a way that looks almost staged. Bring a tripod. Bring more time than you think you need. The drive out is long and the place does not give itself up quickly.
Gallery
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