Parts Per Million

The phrase ‘parts per million’ refers to the proportion of one element to the whole of the compound of which it is part. Isenrath made the series with the same title in August, 2010, several months after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico spewed hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the water. Because access to the heavily polluted coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida was restricted, Isenrath decided to photograph the beautiful beaches which were still accessible. The barely visible clean-up crews and their materials disrupt the idyll.