Richard Mosse is an Irish Photographer and winner of the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2014. Throughout 2012 he travelled around war-torn Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with his collaborators Trevor Tweeten and Ben Frost to photograph the conflict in the region. Over 5.4 million people have died in war-related deaths since 1998 in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mosse’s photography is exceptional; he uses a discontinued Kodak Aerochrome film. Aerochrome film is traditionally used for vegetation surveys and military purposes; its aim is to identify camouflage targets. It registers an infra red spectrum of light that renders the greenery and foliage vibrant and potent hues of pink.
The cumulative result of Mosse’s work is a harrowing and haunting portrayal of the unrest in the country. The psychedelic and vivid colouring portrays a surreal world similar to that of a macabre fairy tale or that of an unnerving nightmare. Mosse’s photographs serve as a cold confrontation with the plight of a country plagued by violence and human suffering, viagra forgotten by the rest of the world.
Mosse’s work can be construed and interpreted in many different ways. The psychedelic colouring of his photographs serve to amplify and emphasise the idea that this is a world apart from the world we know. It also conveys the idea that human suffering is contrary to natural order and therefore his works shows a land plunged into cosmic disorder and chaos.
Whilst addressing the Royal Hibernian Academy, Mosse stated that “in an attempt to bring two counter-worlds into collision: art’s potential to represent narratives so painful that they exist beyond language, and photography’s capacity to document specific tragedies and communicate them to the world.” Mosse’s reportage of Eastern Democratic Republic can be viewed in his collection “The Enclave”.
-Hannah Redmond
