Richard Mosse: The Impossible Image

For three years, Richard Mosse has captured hypercolor images of eastern Congo for his series Infra, shot on a now extinct 16mm infrared film designed originally for military reconnaissance. Now he has a video installation to add to the project. The Enclave had the Venice Biennale abuzz when it debuted at the Irish Pavilion in May. In this short documentary produced by Frieze, Mosse explains the ideas behind the film and the history behind the method itself.

The infrared light that his camera picks up is entirely invisible to the human eye, and reveals a candy-floss pink world. Richard took this method of filming to the Congo, mirroring it’s nature with the nature of the country itself, and highlighting the relatively unknown levels of war violence (5.4 million people have been killed there since 1998).

Photo: Richard Mosse, “Platon,” North Kivu, Eastern Congo, 2012. Digital c-print. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery.