Natron belongs to the minerals, carbonates, and nitrates. This word comes from the Ancient Egyptian term NTR, which means “divine” or “pure,” giving rise to the compound word “divine salt.” On the border with Kenya, located in the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania, is Lake Natron; there, along the shore, are bodies of birds and bats turned into salt statues.
Legend has it that the Kraken inhabits the waters of this lake and turns the creature that challenges the sea beast with its gaze into salt mummies. Its natron ink drips on the warm bodies of the animals and petrifies them to turn them into sacred guardians of the place.
The place takes its name from a natural chemical compound formed mainly by sodium carbonate from the ashes of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano. This saltwater lake is fed by its main tributary, the Lagh Dera River, as well as by minerals from the hot springs that flow in the periphery.
The minerals that make up its waters make it so dense that on the surface you can see formations of sodium carbonate spirals, which causes the animals that dive into it, to get trapped among its salts and lose their lives after trying to get out of its thick waters. It is so rich in dissolved sodium carbonate that if a person puts his hand under the surface he can feel an almost gelatinous touch.
Natron was employed by the ancient Egyptians in the mummification process, allowing calcified bodies to be perfectly preserved for years. Photographer Nick Brandt took a break from his work in the area when he found calcified animal bodies scattered along the lakeshore. “No one knows exactly how they died, but apparently, the extreme surface reflection confused them, causing them to fall into the water.”
Seeing the near-perfect calcified bodies, Nick decided to present to the world what these dense waters do to animals and placed birds and bats in artistic positions as a testament to the lethal lake. Through this series the photographer offers a darker vision of this world still full of breathtaking beauty, now tragically vitiated and disappearing at the hands of man.
It is believed that the Kraken inhabits the bottom of the lake and feeds on the fear that animals give off when they see themselves reflected in these salty waters until they fall and are mummified.
Nick Brandt was born and raised in London, England; he studied painting and later studied filmmaking at St. Martin’s School of Art. In 1992 he moved to the United States, where he began directing music videos, among them Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” shot on the outskirts of Rio. In this filming, the feelings toward animals change all of Brandt’s life plans, and he began to photograph the contrasts of Africa.
This story was originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
