The Santa Fe 1982

Richard Misrach's "The Santa Fe," a large-format color photograph taken in 1982, exemplifies the artist's signature style of capturing the vastness and stark beauty of the American West. The photograph features a long freight train traversing a seemingly endless expanse of desert landscape, with a pale blue sky overhead. Misrach's use of a wide-angle lens and shallow depth of field emphasizes the train's linear form and the vastness of the surrounding landscape, creating a sense of both awe and isolation. This work is characteristic of Misrach's exploration of the relationship between human activity and the natural world, showcasing the power and impact of industrial forces on the American landscape.