Richard Misrach, renowned for his contemporary landscapes of the American West, received a commission from the High Museum for its Picturing the South initiative in 1998. He chose to photograph the highly industrialized section of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans known as Cancer Alley.
Misrach described Cancer Alley as a “remarkable corridor of historic, cultural, and natural resources, which in the past decades has been virtually decimated by the introduction of the petro-chemical industry. Alongside restored and potentially restorable classic antebellum plantations sit over 136 behemoth industrial sites—a bizarre juxtaposition of the charming and the horrific.”
Swamp and Pipeline, Geismar, Louisiana, 1998Hazardous Waste Containment Site, Dow Chemical Corporation, Mississippi River, Plaquemine, Louisiana, 1998Bulk Cargo Ship, Bonne Carre Spillway, near Norco, Louisiana, 1998Playground and Shell Refinery, Norco, Louisiana, 1998Exxon Refinery, from State Capitol Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1998Abandoned Trailer, Mississippi River, Near Dow Chemical Plant, Plaquemine, Louisiana, 1998Playground and Shell Refinery, Norco, Louisiana, 1998Dead Trees, Toxic Waste Containment Site, Mississippi River, Dow Chemical Corporation, plaquemine, Louisiana, 1998Holy Rosary Cemetery and Dow Chemical Corporation (Union Carbide Complex), Taft, Louisiana, 1998Abandoned Kaiser Aluminum Plant, North Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1998Community Remains, Former Morrisonville Settlement, Dow Chemical Corporation, Plaquemine, Louisiana, 1998Scenic Highway, (Abandoned business and Shell Chemical Corporation), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1998Mary, Destrehan, Louisiana, 1998Pipeline and River Road, Donaldsonville, Louisiana, 2010Bulk Cargo Ship (Grain), Bonne Carre Spillway, Norco, Louisiana, 1998Bonne Carre Spillway, Norco, Louisiana, 1998“Danger”, hazardous waste containment site, Mississippi River, Dow Chemical Corporation, Plaquemine, Louisiana, 1998Holy Rosary Cemetery (Blue Mary), Taft, Louisiana, 1998Duck Weed, near St. Rose, Louisiana, 1998Roadside Vegetation and Orion Refining Corporation, Good Hope, Louisiana, 1998West Bank Mississippi River, Dow Chemical Corporation, Plaquemine, Louisiana, 1998
Funds: H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust - Lucinda W. Bunnen - High Museum of Art Enhancement Fund
Courtesy: Fraenkel Gallery - Pace-MacGill Gallery - Marc Selwyn Fine Arts