Untitled [New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 2005] Possibly 2005 - 2010

Editor: This photograph, titled "Untitled [New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 2005]" by Richard Misrach, from likely 2005-2010, captures a scene of aftermath with an overturned car spray-painted with the word "Sorry." The desolate and rather eerie scene evokes a sense of abandonment and perhaps unspoken accountability. What are your thoughts when you look at this image? Curator: This image immediately brings to mind questions of materiality and labor within disaster capitalism. The overturned car, a manufactured object made through specific labor processes, now functions as debris. The application of the word "Sorry," is interesting here because the labor of creating the expression seems to highlight absence of accountability more than owning up to harm. Editor: That's a great point. I hadn’t really thought about the means of production of that "Sorry," and how it contrasts with the destroyed house or car. It almost feels ironic. Curator: Exactly. It’s about exploring whose labor and materials are valued, and whose are disposable in the face of devastation. The materials scattered around the location are physical manifestations of inequality, really. It’s interesting how a photographic landscape allows examination of these complex layers. Editor: The word really redirects my perspective; what might otherwise feel like a journalistic capture is now more about cultural guilt. Is Misrach implying an apology on behalf of the government, perhaps? Curator: Misrach’s perspective is certainly relevant. But I suggest we move past authorial intent, and focus instead on how materials represent social conditions, how photographic documentation allows social reflection. Whose apology is represented here? The material conditions suggest much larger actors at play, not necessarily an individual. Editor: This has completely shifted my perception of the photograph. Now I am seeing how it’s all pointing toward the labor involved and the larger questions of what that sorry even means considering the magnitude of destruction. Curator: Indeed, understanding art through its materials reveals underlying social structures. A valuable lesson to take forward.