From 2002 to 2005 Misrach made "On the Beach," a series of photographs of swimmers and sunbathers in Hawaii. Working from the balcony of an oceanfront hotel, he eliminated all references to the horizon and sky in order to record people immersed in the idyllic environment. Yet despite the beauty of the scene, a strange feeling of unease pervades these photographs; lone swimmers are often presented without reference to the shore, as if drifting far out at sea, while groups of waders appear to be fleeing some unknown danger. Even those on the beach often look drowned and washed ashore. Made in the months following September 11, 2001, these moving and powerful photographs speak of the unease and sense of foreboding that pervaded the country after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.