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

Richard Misrach took this photograph, New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, in 2005. I imagine him standing in the street, his finger gently pressing the camera shutter. The scene is grey and overcast, as though the world is holding its breath. On the fence in front of him, someone has spray-painted ‘BROKEN DREAMS.’ The words feel raw, immediate, like a cry from the heart. The colour is like dried blood. You can almost see the hand moving as the letters are formed, each one a testament to loss. It’s interesting to me that artists respond to tragedy: the impulse to document, the need to witness. Misrach has spent a career photographing the landscape of the American West, often focusing on the impact of human activity. This image seems like a natural extension of that project. He has his finger on the pulse of the land. I feel that artists have to talk to each other across time, in our own language. I hope that I too can be a part of that conversation.