Salt of the Earth
Salt of the Earth
A visual record of transformation in South Bay wetlands by Barbara Boissevain
Exhibition Dates: September 2, 2025 - February 13, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, September 5, 6:30-8:30pm
The David Brower Center is pleased to present Salt of the Earth, an exhibition by California-based photographer Barbara Boissevain that highlights the transforming landscapes of the South Bay Salt Ponds. Her work documents nearly a decade and a half of the ongoing transition of a portion of local salt ponds to restored marshlands. These versatile wetland ecosystems, including Ravenswood Ponds in Menlo Park to Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward, provide crucial habitat for birds, fish, crustaceans, and other wildlife.
Boissevain's photographs depict the mid-point of a fifty-year-long collaborative project that is the largest tidal restoration effort on the West Coast. The project aims to restore at least 8,000 acres of salt marsh, with 2,000 acres kept for managed ponds for waterfowl as well as dry habitat for snowy plovers. This ambitious plan relies on the expertise and resources of numerous government agencies, conservation researchers, philanthropic partners, and local nonprofits. We invite you to reflect on these dynamic landscapes and celebrate the delicate work of restoration happening right here in the Bay.
Visit the Exhibition
Gallery Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 10am -4pm
Friday, 10am - 2pm
David Brower Center
2150 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
About the Artist
Barbara Boissevain is a California-based contemporary visual artist and photographer whose work focuses on the impact of human activity on the environment. Nature’s ability to regenerate and reclaim human altered landscapes is a central theme in her work.
Boissevain was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Silicon Valley. She studied painting at Parsons School of Design in New York before immersing herself in photography, earning a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from San Jose State University.
Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe, including Mémoire De L'Avenir, Paris; the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA; Galerie Numero Cinq, Arles, France; and the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland. From 2014 to 2021, she was an artist in residence with the City of Palo Alto’s Cubberley Artist Studio Program. In 2018 she was an artist in residence at Galerie Huit in Arles, France. She was invited to Atelier 11 for a solo residency through L’AiR Arts international residency program in Paris in July 2022. In the summer of 2023 she was honored to participate in the Cycladic Arts Residency in Paros Greece and was an artist in residence at the Peyton Evans Artist Residency in Key West, Florida in June, 2025.
In 2009 Boissevain published her first book, titled Children of the Rainbow, which documented the humanitarian challenges facing Quechua communities in Peru due to climate change. In 2021 her work was featured on NPR’s “The Picture Show” in conjunction with the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, Scotland. She was also featured on the PBS News show Something Beautiful in 2022.
Her book Salt of the Earth was published by Kehrer Verlag in the Fall of 2023, and was chosen as one of Wired Magazine’s best photo books of 2023.
Boissevain’s photographs are in numerous public and private collections, including the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.; the Google Corporate Art Collection, Sunnyvale, CA; and the De Pietri Artphilein Foundation, Lugano, Switzerland. To learn more about her work, visit her website.
Made possible via the generosity of Beneficial State Bank, City of Berkeley Civic Arts, 
East Bay Municipal Utility District, and many supportive individuals.