richard mosse: infra photo series installation at open eye gallery

‘general février’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2010
all images © richard mosse

richard mosse: infra 
open eye gallery, liverpool, UK
from march 30th until june 10th, 2012

ireland-born and new york-based photographer richard mosse has created ‘infra’, an exceedingly popular photographic series investigating conflict occurring in the democratic republic of congo. an installation of mosse’s photographs showed at the open eye gallery in 2012.

the collection of images were captured with kodak aerochrome infrared color film, an outdated technology once used for military surveillance. aerochrome film is intended to clearly denote the potential destination points for aerial bombs, as it is able to detect a spectrum of light to which the human eye alone is not able capable of discerning. the result is mosse’s surrealistic photographic depiction of the ongoing conflict in the democratic republic of congo. each image is captured in shades of bright pink, crimson and lavender. ‘infra’ highlights the complexity of the region’s violence through an obscured vision of an ongoing war; the documentation of the convoluted nature of the region’s systematic violence is enhanced by the use of infrared technology and the distorted result.

‘the images initiate a dialogue with photography that begins as a meditation on a broken documentary genre, but ends as an elegy for a land touched by tragedy.’ -open eye gallery

‘vintage violence’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011

‘tutsi town’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2010

‘growing up in public’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011

‘we hate it when our friends become successful’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2010

‘men of good fortune’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011

left: ‘come out (1966)’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011
right: ‘another green world’, kisangani to bukavu, eastern congo, 2010

‘colonel soleil’s boys’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2010

‘house of cards’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011

‘even better than the real thing’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011

‘ruby tuesday’, north kivu, eastern congo, 2011