Shout #13

Misha used photography as a way of representing his own reality. The reality that existed in his mind and in his dreams. He created an intricate and very labor-intensive photographic masking technique that allowed him to create images consisting of 50 or more negatives. Misha strived to be perfect but understood that there is beauty in imperfection and accepted the minor imperfections of his style. Misha left behind a body of work that speaks to the harsher realities of the human experience, but also the inherent beauty that can be found in those realities. His work inspires self-reflection and is intentionally left open to interpretation.

This image is the 13th installment in the series Shout. Shout was Misha’s artistic expression of the incredible grief he felt from losing his wife and life partner, Rosa, at 41 years old in a tragic automobile accident in 1985. Rosa and Misha had been together since they were 18 and had immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union together. Misha was introduced to the Japanese dance troupe Sankai Juku, who are the models in Shout #13. This image was created in 1986.