Description

Using a large-format camera, Alec Soth captures offbeat, intimate images of American life. He first gained recognition with his series “Sleeping by the Mississippi ”, which consisted of lush, painterly images of landscapes alongside many varied portraits, shot on road trips along the Mississippi River. Other subjects explored by Soth include Niagara Falls’ honeymoon and tourism trades and the country’s exhaustion under two terms of George W. Bush. In his book “I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating”, Soth returns to a quieter, more intimate form of portraiture, shooting his subjects in their own spaces. People are key to Soth’s practice; indeed, he describes them as “the gasoline” for all his work. Even in images where no people are seen, their presence can be felt in the spaces and objects photographed. Pictured here, Los Angeles inhabitant Nick lounges on a bed.

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