Ashland Belle Helene Plantation, Acquired by Shell Chemical

Richard Misrach, American, born 1949

Ashland Belle Helene Plantation, Acquired by Shell Chemical, 1998

This photograph is part of a larger body of work that Misrach created for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta’s “Picturing the South” series. Misrach decided to focus on Cancer Alley, a stretch of land in Louisiana where industrial plants are devastating the health of the communities they surround. This particular photograph is striking because it depicts a large white plantation mansion, a symbol heavily associated with the South. The fact that it was taken over by Shell Corporation serves as a symbol of the continued oppression and abuse of Black people in the name of capitalism. This series serves as a method of communication: in Misrach’s own words, “It’s hard for art to really solve problems but I’ve come to believe that art is a really important way of communicating, not only with current generations, but with future generations.” Label by Laura Reitze

Agua #1, near Calexico, California

Richard Misrach, American, born 1949

Agua #1, near Calexico, California, 2004

This photo taken by Misrach shows a lone flag waving in the wind, alerting immigrants to a water station during their treacherous, border-crossing voyage; the water barrel is likely a life-saving source in an otherwise unforgiving and barren desert. This photograph is one of eighty works featured in Border Cantos, a gallery created by photographer Misrach and sculptor/composer Guillermo Galindo that uses sound, sight, and salvaged belongings from immigrants (alive and deceased) to humanize the controversial and challenging issue of immigration. Using a combination of photography, music, and sculpture based on possessions lost and found across the desert, Border Cantos gives us a haunting portrait of struggle, sacrifice, and salvation that captures raw human determination in the face of political and environmental instability. Label by Tara Vasanth