“The world is as terrible as it is beautiful” Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach originally began photographing with a 35mm camera with the motivation of sparking social change.  After his graduation from the University of California, Berkeley in 1971 he consistently photographed in color film with an 8 x 10 camera.  Misrach often conveys disturbing subjects that aim to display man's disastrous effect on nature.  However, although the subjects may often times be disturbing, Misrach also places emphasis on the power of aesthetics to effect change which can be seen in beautiful and epic photos of complex landscapes that evoke astonishment and awe.  Misrach is famous for his American Desert work which displays various scenes of fire, flood, military scarred terrain, and dead animals.  More recently, in his project entitled On the Beach, Misrach focuses on water, beaches, ocean, and sunbathers from a high 'godlike' vantage point.  These images are taken in vast expanses and have no horizon line.  They depict people as small and isolated figures in an immense scene to remind the viewer of the delicacy and relative insignificance of humanity in the face of all encompassing nature.