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Arts & Entertainment

The 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath: Photographs by Richard Misrach

In October 1991, immediately following a catastrophic firestorm that struck the Oakland and Berkeley hills, renowned Bay Area photographer Richard Misrach ventured into the fire zone armed with his 8x10-inch view camera. Working alone amidst the ruins, he roamed devastated neighborhoods, recording stark vistas and intimate details of destroyed homes. The resulting images are distinguished by Misrach’s masterful framing of his subjects: the compositions are dramatic without being sensational and incisively reveal a world transformed. 


Out of respect for the victims of the fire—which killed 25 people, injured 150 others, and destroyed nearly 3,000 houses and 1,520 acres—Misrach chose to keep the images in storage, showing them only rarely. Now, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fire, BAM/PFA and the Oakland Museum of California each present 40 photographs from the series, including 14 large-format images whose immense scale invites the viewer to enter into Misrach’s quiet elegies. 

The Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath photographs have shifted in their meaning over the past 20 years, from journalistic reportage to historical record. Visitors to the museum can participate in this recording of history by contributing their own recollections and reflections to a handmade book in the galleries, what Misrach calls an “elegy ledger,” that will join the photographs as part of the community’s collective memory of the 1991 firestorm and its aftermath. -- Lucinda Barnes, Chief Curator and Director of Programs and Collections


The Oakland Museum of California’s presentation of 1991: The Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath, Photographs by Richard Misrach is also on view from Oct. 15, 2011 through Feb. 12, 2012. BAM/PFA members may view the Oakland museum's presentation for free with proof of membership. 

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