Petrochemical America

Petrochemical America represents a unique collaboration between photographer Richard Misrach and landscape architect Kate Orff. Presented in two parts, the first features Misrach’s photographs of the Mississippi River industrial corridor, stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans—one of America’s most industrialized places, and a region that first garnered public attention as “Cancer Alley” because of the unusual occurrences of cancer in the area. The second part of the book integrates these photographs into a series of visual narratives created by Kate Orff and her office, SCAPE, and unpacks the complex cultural, physical, and economic issues of the region. A Glossary of Terms and Solutions for a Post–Petrochemical Culture brings together case studies, tools, and practices that offer models for change. Ultimately, this joint enterprise offers an expansion of both disciplines, a richly researched and concretely visualized study of the issues facing the petrochemical industry—and our society, which has become inextricably intertwined with its output.