Drive-In Theater, Las Vegas, 1987-88
Dye coupler photograph, ed 4 of 7
30 x 40 inches
Artist Quotes:
“At that point I was rebelling against traditional landscape photography…I was vandalizing with artificial light” LA Times Magazine Article by Sean Elder
“People have responded to the pictures I make as mystical things, and they somehow carry the illusion further thinking that the place is this mystical, magical place. The desert is also a very barren place, a very lonely place, a very boring, uneventful place.” PhotoBulletin interview, July 1979.
“The one thing that seems to be consistent through all my work that I like, and I experimented a lot, is the viewer is allowed to meditate on something that normally we don’t stop and stare at, whether it’s people or a cactus.” PhotoBulletin interview, July 1979.
Additional Links:
Richard Misrach interviewed by David Fahey for PhotoBulletin (Volume 2, Number 5): July 1979. In this interview, Misrach discusses the thought process behind his subject matter, the possibility of viewing his photos literally or metaphorically, and the idea of mysticism in his practice.
“The Tainted Desert: Richard Misrach’s Photographs Document the Beauty and Ruin of the American West” by Sean Elder, Los Angeles Times Magazine: November 4, 1990.
This magazine article focuses on Misrach’s interest in deserts and the political lean of his work. The article frequently quotes Misrach.
Richard Misrach video interview by John Divola, April 26, 2013.
California Landscape into Abstraction Research 