Copyright (C) Richard Mosse - All rights reserved
I first came in contact with Richard Mosse through his “Infra” series of brightly colored pictures of North Kivu (Eastern Congo) people, soldiers and refugee camps. I recommend it, but I was really arrested by the “Nomads” series: Shot in Iraq in March 2009, these photos (including the one displayed here above) are an indirect show of what expression of violence is present there. This is both a documentary and a personal collection of feelings assembled in the pictures. There is no need for military action in the pictures to make them show the utter display of force that is embedded into it.
YLP: What do you consider your worst weakness in photography and how you try and correct it?
A: Photographing people. Doing this makes me so nervous that I begin to sweat. I cannot correct this, but if I had to I would probably take a Valium.
After all, being honest and having some sense of humor are good for everybody, and a photographer too.
Nearly simultaneous to this portfolio presentation on YLovePhoto, another very large piece from the “Nomads” series of Richard Mosse will be exhibited in the Paris Photo show, 18-21 Nov 2010, at Carrousel du Louvre (Paris, France). It is part of the The Empty Quarter display (one of the 100 galleries and publishers grouped there).
If you go through Paris at this time of the year, it may be a good idea to stop and take time to visit the various photographic exhibitions of the “Mois de la Photo” all around Paris. There would be no better time to be a photography lover (or collector) in Paris.