Alec Soth has been haunting me for the last year. Ever since I stumbled upon Sleeping By the Mississippi last fall, his work has been tumbling around my mind since. Then low and behold as I embark on my next body of work, he comes to mind again. My attraction to Sleeping By the Mississippi began with the formal qualities of his work. The attention paid to the surroundings in addition to the people made his portraits speak about the person, and their relationship to their current situation both within and outside of the frame. It became about a person as a whole not just their form. This emphasis on the environment also invites Soth himself into the dynamic.
The viewer is swept up in Soth’s journey… caught in the lonely reverie that in experienced by those who use transience as both an escape and a way to connect to the world. This loneliness felt by a chronic traveler is what attracts both Soth and I to capturing images of others and the environment around them. It is an attempt to connect to the world, especially the people around us in order to counteract the feeling that we are alone.
Soth’s urge to connect to the people and places around himself through photography can been seen through his medium itself. Soth uses an 8x10 camera regularly to capture his work, which causes the set up and exposure time to be longer than that of a modern photo shoot. The subject is aware of the photographer at the time of the exposure, but they are no longer self-conscious. They are relaxed back into their own thoughts, and into themselves allowing Soth to get a more honest perspective of them. Also giving him more time to become immersed in his subject as well as that particular place and time. He states about himself in an interview for Magnum In Motion, “I am a photographer that floats over the surface of the word… I float and I wander and I have brief but occasionally powerful encounters”. I too float and wander finding myself creating situations during my own processes that allow me to have more time with my participants in order to get a more relaxed and honest perspective. This shared technique also reflects my urge to connect to others in the best way I know how, through the lens.
I have just begun the process a newer body of work entitled, Niagara. This is his supposed exploration of love, passion and relationships through the areas surrounding Niagara Fall, a supposed honeymoon hotspot. I haven’t had enough time with it to truly make any grand assertions yet, but there is an awesome interview with Soth about this new work. Here is the link for those of your who are interested.
http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/niagara
And Soth’s website is:
