Summertime at the beach often entails many sunny delights, but photographer Richard Misrach's exhibit "On the Beach," currently on display at the National Gallery of Art, reveals a profound disquietude surrounding the everyday sunbather.
The exhibit features 19 large-scale color photographs of swimmers and sunbathers in Hawaii. Misrach shot the photos from the upper floor of a beachfront hotel, achieving a unique aerial view of the ocean engulfing Misrach's oblivious subjects.
Misrach, known for his reflections on society and nature in his work, shot these images shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. As a result, he incorporated a theme of human susceptibility. Similarly, he titled the exhibit after author Nevil Shute's 1957 novel, "On the Beach," a story about survivors of an atomic holocaust in Australia.
As a result, there is a highly enlightening and impending quality to Misrach's photos. There are often lone subjects seen floating in the ocean without any reference to the safety of the shore, highlighting the looming vastness of the ocean and the accompanying unknown. In several of the photos, sunbathers sprawl close to shore with towels covering their eyes, appearing to be vulnerable and hopeless.
Misrach's photos are exceptionally powerful when they capture refreshingly intimate and endearing moments between his subjects, however. In one photo, a young couple lies alone together near the shore, embracing and staring at each other with a seeming desperation.
The central room of the exhibit, which features three images of the ocean water at different parts of the day, is equally powerful. A rather somber and eerie progression from a peaceful blue ocean to a virtually black ocean creates quite a chilling effect for the viewer, as if all hope is slowly perishing.
Overall, each photo in the exhibit is striking in its own way. While there are not many visual elements within most of the photos, the serenity infused with the tension of the large open ocean sends the viewer's imagination running. The viewer is paralyzed to understand the subtle introspections of the subjects and is simultaneously drowned in the overwhelming enigma of the ocean.
Misrach's exhibit is a worthwhile experience that keeps viewers grounded in reality during the infectious reverie of the summer season. Misrach's photos provoke an unnerving sense of awe, reminding viewers of the ubiquitous nature of danger in modern society, even in the most sublime environments. The exhibit quotes Misrach, who said: "Paradise has become an uneasy dwelling place; the sea frames our vulnerability, the precarious nature of life itself."
"On the Beach" is open to the public and will be on display at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art through Sept. 1.
