Rilevare per rivelare. Richard Mosse tra visualizzazione e fotografia documentale

In contemporary photography, devices borrowed from scientific diagnostics or technologies of reconnaissance, exploration, and surveillance are increasingly common. A good example of this is the work of Richard Mosse, who for many years has been investigating both human conflicts (Infra, 2010-2015; The Enclave, 2013; Heat Maps, 2016-2018; Incoming, 2017) and the tensions between man and nature (Ultra, 2019; Tristes Tropiques, 2020). In these projects, all different from each other, specific visual devices, from infrared and multispectral films to military thermal cameras and drones, are fully integrated into the photographic narrative tools, giving substance to the poetics of storytelling through images. Starting from an exploration of photographic experimentation, between analog and digital, this paper dwells on the analysis of some of Mosse’s most important works to show how these instruments of data collection can become an integral part of a narrative that aims not only to inform, but to sensitize, to reveal the invisible, and to challenge the conventions of reportage and documentary filmmaking.