Richard Misrach (b. 1949) is one of the most influential and internationally recognized photographers working today. He is best known for his epic project on the deserts of the American West and his On the Beach series, both of which explore his unique perspective on man’s place in nature. By exploring the social, political, environmental, and cultural characteristics of the places he photographs, Misrach has expanded the notion of traditional landscape photographic practice. His previous subjects have included manmade floods and fires, military bombing ranges, isolated swimmers in a vast ocean, sublime night skies, and details of paintings housed in the museums of the Southwest.
Misrach has exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad. Recent museum exhibitions include Border Cantos, made in collaboration with the experimental composer Guillermo Galindao, which was exhibited at Amon Carter Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and San Jose Museum of Art in 2016-2017. His work is represented in many prominent collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, and The Getty Museum of Art, California. Misrach is a recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. In 2001, he received the Knight Purchase Award for Photographic Media from the Akron Art Museum, and in 2002, the Kulturpreis for Lifetime Achievement in Photography from the German Society of Photography. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Myriam.