Though, at first glance, his work doesn’t ring as such, Richard Misrach has been fascinated with the human figure throughout his extensive photographic career. His book On The Beach, published in 20113 in response to the 9/11 events, offered aerial images of bathers on various Hawaiian beaches which captured, almost voyeuristically, our interactions with nature.
Now, Misrach is back with a second series centered around our relationship to the sea, The Mysterious Opacity of Other Beings. Unlike On The Beach, this time Misrach hones in on the human subject.
The Mysterious Opacity of Other Beings focuses on the minute gestures and expressions of bathers adrift in the ocean. Each image is presented both as full frame and as a series of enlarged details. In carefully balancing the minutiae of human gesture against the massive scale of the sea, Misrach at once challenges our perception of privacy while at the same time showing tactful restraint through muted-palette still shots that reveal intimate moments of interaction with nature.
The Mysterious Opacity of Other Beings is out on June23rd via Aperture Books.
Hardcover, 17 X 13 in. / 80 pgs / 78 color
