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

Richard Misrach made this photograph in 2005 of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The light is flat, almost bleached, and that makes the scene feel even more desolate. Misrach isn’t trying to pretty things up. It's documentary, but with an emotional punch. Look at the house— the scrawled graffiti, “Bonnie,” and a phone number; it’s a cry for help, a message in a bottle after the storm. The texture of the house siding, the peeling paint, it all speaks to a place worn down, not just by the hurricane, but by time, by neglect. See how the colors are muted? It’s like the life has been sucked out of everything. Even the sky feels heavy. Misrach’s work often deals with how humans impact the landscape. Think of someone like Robert Adams, who also documented the American West with a similar, unflinching eye. Ultimately, it’s about seeing the world as it is, messy and complicated, and finding some kind of truth in that.