Monday: 12-31-12
Design Director: Arem Duplessis
Director of Photography: Kathy Ryan
Art Director: Gail Bichler
Deputy Photo Editor: Joanna Milter
Photo Editors: Stacey Baker, Clinton Cargill, Amy Kellner, Luise Stauss
Designers: Sara Cwynar, Hilary Greenbaum, Drea Zlanabitni
Photographer: Richard Mosse
*masthead not published picked up from 11/12/12
1 Comment
Well, if everyone else is too deep in their New Year’s Eve celebratory cups to leave a comment, I’ll have a go at it…
I’ve always liked color infrared photography. Employing this technique to photograph the Congolese civil war was an inspired idea — beautiful. I visited Richard Mosse’s website to see if there were more samples — there are. The dark pinkish color of the hillsides, the white backhoe “lying” down “dead” in the mud, the soldiers surrounded by red foliage reminiscent of Christmas poinsettia, all rendered in infrared are what I imagine a bad acid trip might look like. Fortunately Richard Mosse’s use of this technique avoids the gimmickry associated with the Instagram filters.
These photos remind me of Randy Steele’s toy soldiers. Not that they’re at all alike, but that both can be seen in an art gallery. Red in war photography can be a metaphor for blood, death, and danger. The interpretation will be up to the viewer. I appreciate The New York Times providing the background information on how infrared has been used as a tool to discover camouflaged troops — like in the first Predator movie. The NYT Magazine crew deserve applause for consistently publishing so many unexpected, wonderful, and thought-provoking photos.
Comments are closed for this article!