Alec Soth

In January 2020, I was lucky to have attended a rare talk in the UK by Alec Soth at the Martin Parr Foundation. He had been at a Magnum meeting in London where Martin Parr used his charm to persuade him to pop down to Bristol and talk about his wonderful photos.

If you look at Alec Soth’s photos in isolation, or in passing; you may be bemused.

Why do those in the know wax lyrical about him? Why did the Telegraph call him the

“… greatest living photographer of America’s social and geographical landscape.”

I was also bemused. I didn’t get him. I went to an exhibition at The Science Museum in 2016 and finally, I did get it. I got the story behind the photos. I got the background to his projects and why he did them. I got the absolute dedication he gives to his work.

Which leads me to his latest book: I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating.

A book of portraits and interior spaces.

He explained at the talk that the idea for the book came to him when he hit a creative block. There he was, meditating (in Finland by the water I think?), and his eyes were (re-opened). Photography is about the subject, the space, the photo. That everything is connected.

Pardon?

Yes, that’s what I thought.

And at the end of the talk, I still wasn’t convinced. But now I am.

I’ve been taking my time looking at this book.

My eye darts around each photo. Looking at the details. Looking at the bits in focus and the bits that aren’t (a plate camera can have a very shallow depth of field). It was one particular photo where certain, unconnected parts, were in focus. One eye only, a part of a sleeve, a part of the breast.

And it all made sense. This is where the space is between you, the photographer and the subject; or you, the viewer and the subject. All those invisible chemical / electrical /magnetic (I’m no scientist) things that are invisible to the naked eye but which form a connection. Things are in focus. Things are out of focus. There are things in between. There are things you see, then you move your eye and you see different things and the things you’ve seen before are invisible or out of focus.

So that is what I saw.. or didn’t.

If you can, take your time, and get to know Alec Soth’s photos. The time spent will be worthwhile.

Here are some articles which explain the book far better than I can:

Another Mag

Photobook Store

You can buy the book here

Footnote

We are very lucky to have the Martin Parr Foundation nearby. It hosts many fascinating talks with photographers who have contributed much to photography.

David Hurn, Don McCullin, David Bailey, Chris Killip, John Myers, Eamonn Doyle, Peter Mitchell and many more have taken the time to share their projects.

You can support their sterling work here.

---

---