Richard Mosse’s Air Disasters

Richard Mosse has been one of my favorite photographers for some time now, and I’ve been waiting for an applicable time to feature his Air Disaster project. Since I’m flying off across the ocean tomorrow (more on this later), it seems appropriate to look at imagery of planes on fire.

Mosse, a recent graduate of the Yale MFA program, shoots both disaster simulations and actual crashes with a view camera. I find the results stunning and otherworldy, and strangely comforting the day before I get on a long flight. I mean, what are the odds I would blog about a plane disaster and then die in a plane disaster? And then if I DID, wouldn’t it be fantastic irony?!

Ok, moving on (where’s the xanax and white wine when you need it?)

Below are some excerpts from an interview with Mosse from the great bldgblog.

“I spotted my first air disaster simulator on the tarmac at JFK,”
Mosse wrote. “You can see it yourself next time you fly into that
airport. It’s an intimidating black oblong structure situated
dangerously close to one of the runways. Ever since, I have hunted for
air trainers while taxi-ing across each new airport that I’ve had the
chance to fly into.”

When I asked him about the actual photographic
process – setting himself up near burning, abstract airplanes in order
to get the right shot – Mosse replied: “They are extremely difficult to
photograph. First the water jets are turned on to douse the fuselage in
water. This is in order to stop the metal warping under the intense
heat of the flames. Then a pilot light comes on – and the spectacle
begins.”

“But before you’ve had a chance to cock your shutter and take the photo,” Mosse continued, “it is all finished.”

Untitled (Heathrow), air disaster simulator, London, UK, August 2007