Water Wars
Somehow it happens. Every morning, water is delivered to your faucet tap, your showerhead, your backyard hose for a weekend car wash, your front lawn sprinklers for a spray at dawn. Only when the mercury goes past 100 degrees do many of us actually think about where that water comes from.
And it’s not getting any easier to import H20 to our ever-expanding metropolitan area. According to The New York Times last week, water levels in Lake Mead on the Colorado River, from which L.A. draws a hefty percentage of its water, have fallen to the point of crisis.
L.A.-based photographer Brian To was inspired by water conservation — a perennially underreported topic in our city — for his recent series, featuring models such as former Abercrombie & Fitch coverboy Brad Greiner, Ryan Young and Anna Eva.
“Growing up in L.A., I remember spending whole days bodysurfing in the water 'till it was almost dark,” To says. “Perhaps after hearing so much about global warming, water shortages and the recent Gulf oil leak disaster, I thought it might be a nice message to photograph people interacting with water to remind us all how precious it is.”
To's brother was a naysayer of the series, the photographer admits. True, preternaturally beautiful people frolicking in pristine water smacks of indulgence. But it also draws attention to something so horrendously taken for granted. "I was sort of mad at first, and felt really stupid thinking my brother was right," To says. "But then I thought, photographing water as a luxurious wardrobe that engulfs the subject is the sort of image perhaps we all need to see in order to truly appreciate it."
To is currently compiling images from the shoot for an upcoming benefit aiding third world water conservation efforts. View the complete series here.
