Book Review: Richard Misrach’s “Golden Gate” Celebrates The Bridge’s 75th Anniversary

Book Review: Richard Misrach’s “Golden Gate” Celebrates The Bridge’s 75th Anniversary

I first encountered Richard Misrach’s work when I dined at Houston’s in New York City. The owner of the restaurant chain is an avid photography collector, and on the wall near the entrance was an image from Misrach’s “Salton Sea” series. Not knowing much about art photography at the time, I thought to myself, “I’d like to have that in my home. Maybe I’ll pick up a copy.” It was only later that I became aware that his images regularly sell for about $100,000.

But that fact should not dissuade you from loving Richard Misrach’s work like I do. I am a bit biased given that he did a whole series shot in Hawai’i, called “On the Beach” – but if you’re from the west coast, maybe you’ll like the Aperture Foundation’s limited edition, over-sized version to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the iconic Golden Gate bridge.

Misrach set out to photograph the bridge from a single point on his porch in Berkeley Hills, CA over a three year span, and the result is simply astonishing. If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, you’re familiar with the crazy cloud cover and fog that can appear during the day, and Misrach’s photography captures the variation brilliantly. Here’s the un-boxing:

This is a big book measuring in at 17″ x 23.4″. It’s even larger than “On the Beach,” which I received as a Christmas gift a few years ago. And now, a little gander at the photos.

I believe the press run was 1,000 copies, and at $175 ($150 on Amazon), it’s not exactly cheap. But this isn’t some tiny book with crappy printing. This is the Aperture Foundation pulling out the stops. Hey, aren’t the holidays upon us?

Next Post:
Previous Post:
This article was written by

Allen Murabayashi is the co-founder of PhotoShelter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *