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Petrochemical America
Petrochemical America offers an in-depth analysis of the causes of sustained environmental abuse along the largest river system in North America. It combines Richard Misrach’s haunting photographs of Louisiana’s “Chemical Corridor” with landscape architect Kate Orff’s “Ecological Atlas”--a series of speculative drawings developed through intensive research and mapping of data from the region. Misrach and Orff’s joint effort depicts and unpacks the complex cultural, physical and economic ecologies of a particular region along 150 miles of the Mississippi River, from Baton Rouge to New Orleans--an area of intense chemical production that became known as “Cancer Alley” when unusually high occurrences of the disease were discovered in the region. This revelatory collaboration has resulted in a complex document and an extensively researched guidebook to the ways in which the petrochemical industry has permeated every facet of contemporary life. However complicated by the region’s own histories and particularities, “Cancer Alley” may well be an apt metaphor for the global impact of petrochemicals on the human landscape as a whole.
Richard Misrach (born 1949) has a longstanding association with the American south. His previous monograph, Destroy This Memory , offered a record of hurricane-inspired graffiti left on houses and cars in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. On the Beach and Violent Legacies addressed contamination of desert and beach areas.
Kate Orff (born 1971) is an assistant professor at Columbia University and founder of SCAPE, a landscape architecture studio in Manhattan. Her work weaves together sustainable development, design for biodiversity and community-based change. Orff’s recent exhibition at MoMA, Oyster-tecture , imagined the future of the polluted Gowanus Canal as part of a ground-up community process and an ecologically revitalized New York harbor.
Richard Misrach (born 1949) has a longstanding association with the American south. His previous monograph, Destroy This Memory , offered a record of hurricane-inspired graffiti left on houses and cars in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. On the Beach and Violent Legacies addressed contamination of desert and beach areas.
Kate Orff (born 1971) is an assistant professor at Columbia University and founder of SCAPE, a landscape architecture studio in Manhattan. Her work weaves together sustainable development, design for biodiversity and community-based change. Orff’s recent exhibition at MoMA, Oyster-tecture , imagined the future of the polluted Gowanus Canal as part of a ground-up community process and an ecologically revitalized New York harbor.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 9, 2018
I picked this up after I finished Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, because it was mentioned at the end, and I was looking for a visual companion to the stories of the petrochemical plants in Strangers. I have mostly only learned of or seen environmental issues in the Midwest, so this was crazy eye-opening.
The photograph collection alone I would definitely give 5 stars; while the infographics in the second part were very aesthetically pleasing, they were almost too artsy to understand? Similarly, I liked the essays a lot, but they were super dense-I feel like you'd need to go in with a pretty firm grasp on the subjects involved to fully understand them. Maybe I'm not really the target audience for this work?
Regardless, very interesting look into the industries around Louisiana and the environmental repercussions on the nature and people there.
The photograph collection alone I would definitely give 5 stars; while the infographics in the second part were very aesthetically pleasing, they were almost too artsy to understand? Similarly, I liked the essays a lot, but they were super dense-I feel like you'd need to go in with a pretty firm grasp on the subjects involved to fully understand them. Maybe I'm not really the target audience for this work?
Regardless, very interesting look into the industries around Louisiana and the environmental repercussions on the nature and people there.
February 18, 2025
I was brought here by the whole vibe of Season 1 of True Detective and this article: https://southernspaces.org/2014/somet...
This book is DENSE with information on the petrochemical crisis in America, yet also manages to make you feel, on a guttural level, its impact. It’s a bit technical, but not so much so that it doesn’t have an impact on my thoughts about the situation.
This book is DENSE with information on the petrochemical crisis in America, yet also manages to make you feel, on a guttural level, its impact. It’s a bit technical, but not so much so that it doesn’t have an impact on my thoughts about the situation.
February 2, 2025
3.5 - recommended reading for my Art History and Environmental Crisis class!
I much preferred the first half, both for its aesthetic visuals and visualisation of information. (Is it ethical to aestheticise ecological crises?) The second half was a useful and eye-opening insight into the ‘hidden’ connections between the body, the economy, and the natural world. However, I felt the visual organisation and presentation counterparts were too corporate and messy to be an effective communicator. Would still recommend to anyone!
I much preferred the first half, both for its aesthetic visuals and visualisation of information. (Is it ethical to aestheticise ecological crises?) The second half was a useful and eye-opening insight into the ‘hidden’ connections between the body, the economy, and the natural world. However, I felt the visual organisation and presentation counterparts were too corporate and messy to be an effective communicator. Would still recommend to anyone!
September 13, 2022
A work of art! I want to be able to design visuals like Kate Orff- I love how she reveals the complexity of environmental systems and stories embedded in the Cancer Alley landscape. One of those books that advocates for design being a form of public service, not a commodity to work against environmental injustices.
February 9, 2013
Terrifying look at the impact of the petrochemical industry in Louisiana. Pictures are hauntingly beautiful. the book also breaks down which plastic chemicals are associated with cancer and the breakdown of the way oil is used in plastics, milkshakes etc. Also like the oil sands in Alberta, you learn about how people are constantly displaced for oil.
January 26, 2015
Everything about this book is stunning, well-argued, and flawlessly executed. Orff's research and diagrams help contextualize Misrach's photographs (Fun fact: Misrach's initial series "Cancer Alley" inspired the art direction of True Detective), and the photographs are eerie enough on their own. $30-40 is a steal for a book that is both gorgeous and informative.
May 22, 2015
Fascinating experience! The book is so visually oriented I think it's more fair to call it an experience, rather than a read.
Would be a great book to use in environmental science and environmental justice classes.
Would be a great book to use in environmental science and environmental justice classes.
November 20, 2012
Excellent.
December 18, 2016
A visual foray into a true American horror that will haunt me in so many ways, and affect so many living creatures forever.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews