Richard Misrach focuses on the deserts of the American West and is recognized internationally for the cultural, social, political, and environmental emphasis he brings to landscape photography. Night Desert Series, which he began in the mid-1970s, represents the artist’s first photographic exploration of desert plants, rocks, and terrain. With the aid of carefully set and timed spot-lighting, Misrach transformed his subject in Plate 33, Ocotillo #1, Arizona into an enchanting stage setting, with the sepia toning evoking a mysterious atmosphere. The toning varies from print to print, at times significantly, making each print in this series unique. 

Born in Los Angeles, Misrach earned a B. A. in psychology from University of California at Berkeley, where he continues to live. He helped popularize large-format color photography in the 1970s and 80s, and in 1979 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. Best known for his ongoing series, Desert Cantos, Misrach has worked as a landscape photographer for over 40 years. Beginning in 2004—and increasing since 2009—he has been photographing the US-Mexico borderlands and critically exposing the unseen realities in a series called Border Cantos.