Alex Soth
“Everyone can take great pictures. What’s hard is taking a collection of great pictures and making them work together. It’s like language: everyone can speak but putting the words together is the real challenge.” (Alex Soth)
Alex Soth is widely regarded as one of the leading contemporary American photographers, and my tutor suggested a look at his work in the lead up to assignment 5 of Expressing Your Vision.
“Gathered leaves” is a current retrospective of his work at the Science Museum in London, UK and while I have not been able to attend. I have researched online, as this seems an excellent source of his work and to show the progress through his projects.
Soths work is often a likened to that of Robert Frank and Walker Evens in that he tends to engage in large-scale projects of on a road trip. The focus on a particular element in American Life. For example 2006 “Broken Manual” a series about people who has chosen to live “off the grid”.
Soth’s work appears to have a cohesion between concept and the resulting images which if I am honest my images don’t have. Soth seems to have pre-visualized what he is looking to achieve delivered. In an interview with ASX on YouTube, there is an interesting quote in that no one disappears, and that is something that he has apparently thought about before the images for “Broken Manual” were shot.
Soth process is that a project is as much about him as it is about the subject matter. He takes the subject apart in his process and that gives great context to the work and the time of Broken Manual is was himself in very introspective state.
Soth is an exceptional photographer that will continue to study and my journey through my degree progress.
Bibliography
AMERICAN SUBURB X (2015) ASX interview with Alec Soth (2015). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w91iWM_57RU (Accessed: 6 March 2016).
Gathered leaves: Photographs by Alec Soth (2015) Available at: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/exhibitions/alec-soth (Accessed: 6 March 2016).
Kim, E. (2014) 14 lessons Alec Soth has taught me about street photography. Available at: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2014/02/25/14-lessons-alec-soth-has-taught-me-about-street-photography/ (Accessed: 6 March 2016).
Soth, A. (2013) Alec Soth. Available at: http://alecsoth.com/photography/ (Accessed: 6 March 2016).
Written and James, D. (2015) ‘Photography is a language.’ Alec Soth on his first UK exhibition gathered leaves. Available at: http://www.bjp-online.com/2015/10/photography-is-a-language-alec-soth-on-his-first-uk-exhibition-gathered-leaves/ (Accessed: 6 March 2016).