Book Review: Dérive by Jessica Lange
Dérive © Jessica Lange 2023
Written by Max Wiener
Photo Edited by Kelly Woodyard
“The pandemic” is a pair of words that immediately brings us back to the doldrums of 2020. A closed world marked with loneliness becomes the landscape of our minds, and the fervent memories of years lost move to the forefront of our minds. That desperation - a longing for genuine human connection - is firmly imprinted on us and will never leave; it’s a rare, universally shared experience. While the entire world was suffering, New York City seemed to bear the most onerous burden of all, becoming the de-facto American hotspot and acting as the symbol for how bad the damage of the pandemic was. The Big Apple and the crowded, densely-packed streets were stripped of their identity and robbed of their experience. However, the actual New York story lay between the lines. Photographer Jessica Lange, armed with only a Leica and a masterful vision, captured the raw and lonely nature of Manhattan’s iconic cross streets, and her work is presented masterfully in her new book Dérive (powerHouse Books, 2023). Her black and white images are some of the most harrowing depictions of pandemic life, showing the desolate alienation in ways even those who experienced it have never seen. Her work appears to have the conviction to be the premier source for pandemic-era emotionality, bringing us all together in an artistic experience unlike any other.
Dérive © Jessica Lange 2023
Lange’s true ability lies in her ability to highlight complete and utter loneliness in her images, which is marked by the alienating nature that can sometimes be associated with black-and-white photography. Her images seem to have multiple focal points within them, each of them an explicit choice to highlight the lack of life in her captured world. A blank sky, a singularly occupied sidewalk, a friendless skyscraper in a skyline: each Lange detail is careful and precise. As we focus on each of them, we become further lost in her world, and we have a beautiful ability to explore so much within one image.
Dérive © Jessica Lange 2023
Perhaps Dérive’s ability as a moving piece of art is its depiction of human loneliness. No one Earthly occupant was more affected by the pandemic than us, and in the faces of her Lange’s subjects, we see the desolation that existed at the time. The camera is rendered invisible, her pupils robbed of a contact they can emote. Their brows are furrowed, and their eyes are sullen, truly bearing the weight of the world they’re experiencing. This is where we see the true nature of the pandemic’s damage come through, and because of Lange, we understand it on a deeper level. Her work reminds us that we should be thankful for what we have in the post-pandemic world, especially our connections with others. Go on that date. Meet up with friends. Spend some time with your grandparents. These are all things we once could not do, so let us remember that as we enjoy the fact that we can.
