Shore thing: the unique landscape of Lake Erie – in pictures

These beautiful black and white images of the shallowest Great Lake remind us of what we have done to the environment – and each other

Main image: ‘Unique and imperilled’ … Lake Erie by Lynn Whitney

  • Huntington Beach, Bay Village, 2014

    For over a decade, large-format photographer Lynn Whitney has captured Lake Erie’s imperilled Ohio shores. Her book Lake Erie is available through Kehrer Verlag. An exhibition, Ohio Boundary: Lake Erie, will be at Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio, USA in May 2023. All photographs: Lynn Whitney
    Huntington Beach, Bay Village, 2014for over a decade, large-format photographer Lynn Whitney has captured Lake Erie’s Ohio shores.All photographs: Lynn Whitney

  • Huron Boy, Huron, 2014

    The beautifully rendered images reveal a sense of diverse communities, changing landscapes and deep histories
    Huron Boy, Huron, 2014The beautifully rendered images contained in Lake Erie reveal a sense of diverse communities, changing landscapes, and deep histories of a place.

  • By the Great Lake Erie, Magee Marsh Beach, 2019

    Lynn Whitney: ‘For hundreds of years, the western and southern boundary of Lake Erie has been densely populated, with human endeavours producing significant consequences. I found it an apt vessel from which to reflect on my family history and on systems – political, cultural, and environmental – that have contributed to Lake Erie’s ongoing vulnerability, particularly in the western basin’
    By the Great Lake Erie, Magee Marsh Beach, 2019LW “For hundreds of years, the western and southern boundary of Lake Erie has been densely populated, with human endeavors producing significant consequences. This is a relatively small portion of the fourth largest and most shallow of the five Great Lakes, but I found it an apt vessel from which to personally reflect on my family history and on systems— political, cultural, and environmental—that have contributed to Lake Erie’s ongoing vulnerability, particularly in the western basin.”

  • Decoys, Oak Harbor, 2012

    The images represent an exploration of the 96-mile stretch of shoreline between Toledo and Cleveland known as Lake Erie’s western basin
    Decoys, Oak Harbor, 2012 The images included in Lake Erie represent an exploration of the 96-mile stretch of shoreline between Toledo and Cleveland known as Lake Erie’s western basin.

  • House in Winter, Sandusky, 2014

    In the essay Undercurrents: Re-envisioning Lake Erie, curator Robin Reisenfeld writes: ‘Lynn Whitney’s photographic series Lake Erie unfolds experientially – giving pictorial expression to the human activity, systems and practices that have shaped the water’s existence and our relationship to it. With an unerring eye, Whitney captures Lake Erie and its shoreline’s stark and quiet beauty intertwined with the basin’s industrial, commercial and private development’
    House in Winter, Sandusky, 2014 In the essay Undercurrents: Re-Envisioning Lake Erie, curator Robin Reisenfeld writes: ‘Lynn Whitney’s photographic series Lake Erie unfolds experientially – giving pictorial expression to the human activity, systems and practices that have shaped the water’s existence and our relationship to it. With an unerring eye, Whitney captures Lake Erie and its shoreline’s stark and quiet beauty intertwined with the basin’s industrial, commercial and private development’

  • Formerly Dike 14, Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve, Cleveland, 2009

    Whitney: ‘This series began in 2009 with a commission from the George Gund Foundation, but then expanded far beyond the original project. With my 8x10 film camera, the Gund Commission made access possible to private estates and places people were not generally allowed to visit’
    Formerly Dike 14, Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve, Cleveland, 2009 Lake Erie began in 2009 with a commission from the George Gund Foundation, but then expanded far beyond the original project. With my8 × 10 film camera, the Gund Commission made access possible to private estates and places people were not generally allowed to visit.

  • Two Birders, Magee Marsh, 2014

    Lynn Whitney: ‘Finding permissible access to engage with the life of the lake challenged my ingenuity. But thankfully people are still curious about traditional cameras and often kind enough to allow me to make my pictures in places both public and private’
    Two Birders, Magee Marsh, 2014LW “ I recognized the privilege I had during this short time in 2009 and discovered how much more there was to find out, which would hold my attention for longer than a decade. Finding permissible access to engage with the life of the Lake challenged my ingenuity. But thankfully people are still curious about traditional cameras and often kind enough to allow me to make my pictures in places both public and private.

  • Signal, Near Sandusky, 2014

    In the essay Lake Erie, a Vast and Fragile Resource, biologist George Bullerjahn writes: ‘The Great Lakes harbour one fifth of the surface fresh water on Earth. Lake Erie, the shallowest of the lakes, has the highest population in its basin and is under continuous assault by the forces of human activity, invasive species and climate change. The waters, seemingly endless, are an abundant, yet fragile resource. Fisheries, water quality and coastlines are now drastically different following the displacement of indigenous peoples by European settlers’
    Signal, Near Sandusky, 2014From the text Lake Erie, A Vast and Fragile Resource by biologist George Bullerjahn: ( and an essay by biologist George Bullerjahn, which chronicles the environmental and geological characteristics of the lake.) The Great Lakes harbor one fifth of the surface fresh water on Earth. Lake Erie, the shallowest of the lakes, has the highest pop- ulation in its basin and is under continuous assault by the forces of human activity, invasive species, and climate change. The wa- ters, seemingly endless, are an abundant, yet fragile resource. Fish- eries, water quality, and coastlines are now drastically different following the displacement of indigenous peoples by European settlers.

  • On Her Shoulders, Huron, 2019

    Lynn Whitney: ‘When I moved to Northwest Ohio from New England as an adult in the 1980s, my vision of Lake Erie was complicated. I had family ties to it, and I knew it had ongoing environmental concerns. My mother had been raised near the Lake’s shores and she had experienced its enormity. I had grown up in Massachusetts with my mother’s stories animating a single old photograph in our house which formed a romantic image of the Lake for me’
    On Her Shoulders, Huron, 2019Lynn Whitney: ‘When I moved to Northwest Ohio from New England as an adult in the 1980s, my vision of Lake Erie was complicated. I had family ties to it, and I knew it had ongoing environmental concerns. My mother had been raised near the Lake’s shores and she had experienced its enormity. I had grown up in Massachusetts with my mother’s stories animating a single old photograph in our house which formed a romantic image of the Lake for me’

  • One Love, Edgewater Park, 2009

    Inspired by Frank Gohlke’s work on Lake Erie, Whitney’s distinct eye acts as a guide through this unique and imperilled landscape; her images ask what the chances are for our collective future and offer hope in the effort of noticing
    One Love, Edgewater Park, 2009Inspired by Frank Gohlke’s work on Lake Erie, Whitney’s distinct eye acts as a guide through this unique and imperiled landscape; her images ask what the chances are for our collective future and offer hope in the effort of noticing

  • Lucky Stone (otolith), Magee Marsh Beach, 2014

    Whitney: ‘As I collected images and stories, the complex life of the lake began to express itself in metaphorical layers. A woman held an otolith in her palm for me; an offering, a lucky stone, a stigmata’
    Lucky Stone (otolith), Magee Marsh Beach, 2014“As I collected images and stories, the complex life of the Lake began to express itself in metaphorical layers. A woman held an otolith in her palm for me; an offering, a lucky stone, a stigmata”.

  • Turtle Eggs, Magee Marsh, 2014

    As a collection, these photographs and texts are reminders of the past we share; of what we have done and continue to do to the lake and to each other
    Turtle Eggs, Magee Marsh, 2014As a collection, these photographs and texts are reminders of the past we share; of what we have done and continue to do to the lake and to each other

  • Stairs, Bratenhal Estate, 2009

    In the essay Witness, photographer Nicholas Nixon writes: ‘In Whitney’s work we see scenes of past elegance, present industrial use and small poignant events along the shoreline, a magic stage. Women in a car are as beautiful as a boy fishing, a large anonymous apartment building, turtle eggs in the grass, a statue of Neptune, the shining horizon. She looks kindly and with elegance, but without judgment, letting us see for ourselves the connection between people and events in the light on the edge of the second smallest and most shallow of the Great Lakes’
    Stairs, Bratenhal Estate, 2009In the essay Witness, photographer Nicholas Nixon writes: ‘In Whitney’s work we see scenes of past elegance, present industrial use and small poignant events along the shoreline, a magic stage. Women in a car are as beautiful as a boy fishing, a large anonymous apartment building, turtle eggs in the grass, a picnic, a sensuous statue of Neptune, the shining horizon. She looks kindly and with elegance, but without judgment, letting us see for ourselves the connection between people and events in the light on the edge of the second smallest and most shallow of the Great Lakes’
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