Visions of the Decade: Richard Misrach’s On The Beach (5 Photos)
All photographs © Richard Misrach
PDN readers voted Richard Misrach’s 2007 book On The Beach one of the most influential books of the decade in a survey conducted for our January 30th Visions of the Decade issue. Taken from hotel room windows in Hawaii over the course of three years from 2002–2005, Misrach’s large-format photographs of beach scenes were published by Aperture in a beautiful oversize book.
“I was drawn to the fragility and grace of the human figure in the landscape,” Misrach wrote of the series. “My thinking about this work was influenced by the events of 9/11, particularly by the images of individuals and couples falling from the World Trade Towers, as well as by the 1950s Cold War novel and film, On the Beach. Paradise has become an uneasy dwelling place; the sublime sea frames our vulnerability, the precarious nature of life itself.”
January 29th, 2010 at 7:01 pm EEST
Wow, that really surprises me. This book is really similar to Massimo Vitali’s work. There is an interesting article on Jorg Colbergs blog, when similar work becomes “too” similar, http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/2010/01/when_does_similar_become_too_similar.html
I like the book but think Vitali’s is even better. Maybe it’s tougher for an Italian photographer to get the same love over here as a North American one, or just how we see and use photography differently. I think similarly that Bascilico blows Polidori away, IMHO.
A Fan,
January 30th, 2010 at 8:42 pm EEST
A Fan,
I don’t understand your comment. The two beach series seem to only have the beach in common. They give a completely different feeling. Both are great photographers though.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:18 am EEST
nifty!
October 8th, 2010 at 1:40 am EEDT
I haven’t reciprocated with my blogs readers as significantly, maybe I can discover a thing from you. It all goes back to the lack of comments that I have, due to my own complacency and procrastination. So, kudos to you for recognizing the frequency of rewarding your loyal fans.
October 8th, 2010 at 4:55 pm EEDT
Very useful. Thank you.