Dead Fish 1986

Curator: Richard Misrach created this photograph, "Dead Fish." Editor: What an unsettlingly placid image. The pale, bleached tones and low horizon create a sense of vast emptiness. Curator: Misrach is known for photographing the American West and its altered landscapes. The photograph powerfully suggests ecological disaster. Editor: Indeed. The fish carcasses, scattered across the cracked earth, form these stark lines of repetition—almost like a macabre pattern. Curator: And how does the photograph make us complicit? We are confronted with the impact of environmental change, aren't we? Editor: Yes, there's an undeniable tension between the photograph's formal beauty and its unsettling subject matter. Curator: It’s a powerful testament to our moment in history. Editor: An elegy, perhaps, rendered with stark photographic beauty.