Violent Legacies is the third publication of Richard Misrach’s ongoing “Desert Cantos” series. In this volume, the American West is stripped of its romanticized myths and revealed as a laboratory for military experimentation and environmental violence. The book is organized into three distinct “cantos”: “Project W-47 (The Secret),” documenting a secret atomic test site; “The Pit,” showing mass graves of livestock; and “The Playboys,” featuring Playboy magazines used for target practice. The images are accompanied by Susan Sontag’s short fiction piece, “The View From the Ark,” and a postscript interview with the photographer.
