The Dead Sea — bordered by Israel, Jordan, and Palestine — is renowned as a place for tourists to go take a dip and rejuvenate with the water’s unusual properties. With 34.2% salinity as of 2011, it’s nearly ten times as salty as the ocean, and combined with other environmental factors of the area, it’s widely seen as a healthy, and even therapeutic, place to be.
It’s so salty that masses of salt crystals accumulate on its shores like foam, and while it’s great for humans to essentially float on top of (think Eleven in the impromptu, salt-filled sensory deprivation chamber at the school gym in Stranger Things), it’s not so conducive for wildlife. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible for beauty to exist in the Dead Sea, as Israeli artist Sigalit Landau proved.
For a photo series titled Salt Bride, Landau submerged a black dress in the sea for two weeks, inspired by S. Ansky’s 1916 play, The Dybbuk, which is about a young woman who is possessed by the titular malicious spirit. Over the course of two weeks, Landau’s dress was overtaken by salt crystals, which supposedly resembles a dress worn during a Yiddish production of the play in the 1920s. Take a look at the dress’ final stage for yourself:
The eight-part photo series was previously on display at London’s Marlborough Contemporary gallery earlier this year, but while you may have missed the boat there, check out more photos of the dress, as well as photos of the salt-covered garment being taken out of the water, here.
