Digital Camera World - UK (2020-04)

Pro

in

focus

Alec Soth

Photographer

Based in Minnesota, Alec has authored

over 25 books including Sleeping by the

Mississippi, NIAGARA and Songbook,

and is a member of Magnum Photos.

magnumphotos.com/

photographer/alec-soth

ith notable works

including Sleeping

by the Mississippi,

Niagara and

Broken Manual,

the American

photographer Alec Soth is widely

celebrated for his distinctive

• and often surprising – images.
  Halfway through the last decade,
  though, he stepped back from
  photography and spent a year
  making sculpture instead.
  Fortunately for his followers,
  this period was only a sabbatical
  from photography and gave Soth
  the space and time to recharge
  and recalibrate. In 2019, he
  returned with I Know How
  Furiously Your Heart is Beating,
  a work that stood out from
  much of his previous output.
  This collection of images
  is inspired by one of Soth’s
  favourite poems (The Gray Room
  by Wallace Stevens) and explores
  the intimacy of personal space.
  A case study about the book
  and how it was put together is
  just one element in Alec Soth:
  Photographic Storytelling, the
  latest course from Magnum
  Learn, the online learning portal
  of the Magnum Photos agency.

Storytelling is a vital aspect

of photography and, as one

of its leading contemporary

exponents, Soth is a great choice

to helm this course. He offers a

range of insights into his creative

process and working practices,

delivered via interviews and

behind-the-scenes case studies.

An eloquent and engaging

tutor, Soth doesn’t shy away from

talking about the setbacks he has

faced during his career. And his

insightful advice for overcoming

them and moving forward is a key

takeaway of the course.

When looking at collections

of thought-provoking images by

leading photographers, it’s easy

to overlook how much time and

effort they had to expend along

the way. In the course, Soth

explains that it took him around

10 years to find his photographic

voice before his breakthrough

work, Sleeping by the Mississippi.

A collection of images inspired

by America’s second-largest

river, which flows from Minnesota

to Louisiana, Soth says that

Sleeping by the Mississippi is

a metaphor for wandering: “It’s

photos along the river, but not

necessarily of the river.”

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8 DIGITAL CAMERA^ APRIL 2020