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Nick Brandt

A dove appears to fold its wings in a 2010 portrait. Though not evident in these black-and-white photographs, Lake Natron has has a distinctly red colour, which comes from the lake's cyanobacteria.

A lesser flamingo seems to float on Lake Natron in a 2010 picture. The salty lake is an important habitat for lesser flamingos—three-quarters of the bird's population use the isolated lake, with its plentiful food supply, as a breeding site.

A fish eagle seems to strike a regal pose in a 2012 picture—"alive again in death," according to Brandt. Because the water is so alkaline, the only fish that live in Lake Natron are alkaline tilapia (Oreochromis alcalica). Not only is it salty, it's also hot: daily temperatures in the area routinely reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

A bat seems Halloween-ready in a 2012 portrait taken by Brandt. Lake Natron is named for the mineral natron, or hydrated sodium carbonate, which was used in the making of mummies in ancient Egypt. Jaimi Butler, of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College in Utah, said that on the shoreline of the northern arm of the Great Salt Lake, she has found birds that are "pickled"—so encrusted in salt you can pick them up and they will stay in the same position they were lying in. Butler added that healthy birds do frequent the lake, so the dead animals may be ones that succumbed due to sickness or other causes.