During the 1980s, Mikhailov’s photographs featured satirical criticism of the Soviet regime. His 1986 photographs of Salt Lake provide a throwback to life in the USSR. They show vacationers in a small Ukrainian town, all bathing on a sea shore crowded with smokestacks and brick warehouses. In this town, a factory spills untreated water directly into the open sea. Yet, believing these waters to have healing powers, the locals continue to swim in it.