2. Does your subject use photography to show things that might be considered invisible? An example of this the way Curtis used photography to make an abstract concept like "dying race" visible.
In a video where Richard Mosse talks about his latest film, ‘The Enclave’, he explains that he decided to go to Congo because he was shocked that 5.4 million people have been killed there since 1998 because of the war yet we barely hear about this issue. He taught it would be interesting to bring this sort of camera film that shows the invisible (infrared lights) to a place where the conflict is also invisible to the world and to show us what it is all about. His main goal is to introduce beauty into the desolated landscapes so that it creates an ethical conflict in our minds. Morally, it is not possible to see beauty in war or in death yet Richard Mosse's photographs bring us to reflect about perception. By this method, the photographer was able to attract more eyes to the war that we have turned our backs on and forgotten.
In a video where Richard Mosse talks about his latest film, ‘The Enclave’, he explains that he decided to go to Congo because he was shocked that 5.4 million people have been killed there since 1998 because of the war yet we barely hear about this issue. He taught it would be interesting to bring this sort of camera film that shows the invisible (infrared lights) to a place where the conflict is also invisible to the world and to show us what it is all about. His main goal is to introduce beauty into the desolated landscapes so that it creates an ethical conflict in our minds. Morally, it is not possible to see beauty in war or in death yet Richard Mosse's photographs bring us to reflect about perception. By this method, the photographer was able to attract more eyes to the war that we have turned our backs on and forgotten.
"I wanted to export this technology to a harder situation, to up-end the generic conventions of calcified mass-media narratives and challenge the way we're allowed to represent this forgotten conflict… I wanted to confront this military reconnaissance technology, to use it reflexively in order to question the ways in which war photography is constructed." -Mosse
5. Does your subject use photography to alter reality or to reflect it?
As he mentioned in The Impossible Image, Mosses likes to alter a bit the perception of war by changing the natural colors in his photographs which adds beauty so that it will attract the attention of more viewers and make them aware of the complexity of war. But, because he takes his projects in war affected areas, I think it is easy to deduce his work also reflects reality. The pictures are very authentic to the actions of the soldiers who carried on with their journeys without paying much attention to the photographer. That’s why many critics say his work is a precious harmony between art and journalism.
As he mentioned in The Impossible Image, Mosses likes to alter a bit the perception of war by changing the natural colors in his photographs which adds beauty so that it will attract the attention of more viewers and make them aware of the complexity of war. But, because he takes his projects in war affected areas, I think it is easy to deduce his work also reflects reality. The pictures are very authentic to the actions of the soldiers who carried on with their journeys without paying much attention to the photographer. That’s why many critics say his work is a precious harmony between art and journalism.