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Richard MisrachDead Animals #1, 1987-1998Chromogenic color print
In 1980 Richard Misrach began an ongoing series of photographs entitledDesert Cantos, in which he records various stages of man’s impact on the desert. Dead Animals #1, 1987/1998, is part of this body of work, but it comes from a subcategory entitled The Pit, the most controversial work in the series. These pictures show sheep, cows, pigs, and horses that have died suddenly from mysterious causes and are then dumped in open burial grounds throughout Nevada. In the images, the animals are distended and contorted in various stages of decay, the cause of their deaths questionable. The area around the animals is scattered with industrial rubble—spilled oil and other liquids, metal drums, and plastic containers—indicative of our injured environment. But the picture is also remarkably poetic and beautiful. Misrach has framed the shot to create a harmonious composition of shapes and colors, emphasizing the warm earth tones of the land and the livestock. By making work that evokes both beauty and destruction, Misrach walks a thin line between aesthetics and politics. [via]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/9b50a7b3c7c11db089a5992af9f313de/tumblr_mh3koiRsAI1rkld75o1_500.jpg)
Richard Misrach
Dead Animals #1, 1987-1998
Chromogenic color printIn 1980 Richard Misrach began an ongoing series of photographs entitledDesert Cantos, in which he records various stages of man’s impact on the desert. Dead Animals #1, 1987/1998, is part of this body of work, but it comes from a subcategory entitled The Pit, the most controversial work in the series. These pictures show sheep, cows, pigs, and horses that have died suddenly from mysterious causes and are then dumped in open burial grounds throughout Nevada. In the images, the animals are distended and contorted in various stages of decay, the cause of their deaths questionable. The area around the animals is scattered with industrial rubble—spilled oil and other liquids, metal drums, and plastic containers—indicative of our injured environment. But the picture is also remarkably poetic and beautiful. Misrach has framed the shot to create a harmonious composition of shapes and colors, emphasizing the warm earth tones of the land and the livestock. By making work that evokes both beauty and destruction, Misrach walks a thin line between aesthetics and politics. [via]
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