Misrach, Richard (1949)
While he began his photographic work by exploring the West American desert landscapes as they perfectly illustrated extreme ways of living alongside an All-American mythology, Richard Misrach also captured more ambiguous and harsh themes such as nuclear tests, fires, floods and the impact of industrialisation on nature and mankind. He documented the devastating environmental effects of bomb tests in Nevada but also a polluted section of the Mississippi River tragically known as Cancer Alley, séries that clearly point at the damages man have inflicted on nature but therefore, also on himself. With his large-scaled, richly colored and detailed photographs, Richard Misrach nonetheless ironically manages to make destruction and horror, beautiful. Not in a gruesome voyeuristic manner but more within an unsettling tension: ‘beauty is a complicated thing’. In a way, the American photographer simply portrays reality with all its ups and downs: yes some days are made of bewitching sunsets and fun moments spent on the beach but others also bring their share of tragedy. Instead of separating the good and the bad, Richard Misrach brings them together.