In 2021, on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, at its height, seemed to nearly halt the networks of international trade, Richard Misrach began taking thousands of photographs of cargo ships as they moved to and from the Port of Oakland, California. Living in San Francisco, Misrach had an enviable view of the Bay from his home, and so during the lockdowns he started to point his camera out at what was available to him from that spot.
In these monumental seascapes, cargo ships appear frozen in time—diminutive but stalwart—within an expansive, richly colored confluence of sea, sky, and atmosphere.
Made in the light of early morning or late afternoon, the images are painterly allowing a comparison to J.M.W Turner’s atmospheric maritime paintings, and recall the careful observation of the sky and water in other Misrach’s series.

In her essay Rebecca Solnit transcends the aesthetic impact of Misrach’s images by alluding to a broader discussion of collapse and slow recovery of these seafaring trade routes, the confrontation of the human and natural environment in an era of climate disaster, and a rich lineage of maritime art.