Informing Contexts: PHO720 Subjective Realities
This week I reflected on the idea that a photographer is either a hunter or a farmer (Wall 2012). I have chosen to research Alec Sloth, and in particular his work ‘Sleeping By The Mississippi’. Soth interests me because at first you may consider his approach purely hunter. As I looked a little deeper into his work and his methodology I realized it was more complex than I had first thought.
In conversation with the journalist Sean O’ Hagan for Magnum photos (2017) Soth describes how he embraced the American road trip cliché, but made it his own. It wasn’t just a case of snatching shots of people and places as he passed through. He made connections with local people and was able to set up shoots in advance.
“ Crafting each shot was important and magical” (Soth 2017)
He is very careful with his language and describes the experience of meeting people and making their portraits as an ‘encounter’. During this project he had a strong idea of what he was looking to photograph and stuck post-it notes to his car dashboard to remind himself of his objectives. He goes further in conversation with Martin Parr (2019) and talks about taking his time and paying attention to how he is paying attention.
Listening to Soth speak reminded me that I can make my own rules in my practice and that there is no set way to do things. His methodology has changed from project to project, and this too is ok changed from project to project, and this too is ok.
Fig. 1 Soth 2002. Charles, Vasa, Minnesota.
Fig. 2. Soth. 2002. Venice, Louisiana
These photos from the project Sleeping By The Mississippi were, although referencing the region, vague in their geographical boundaries. Each encounter he had, lead onto another and he actively searched for ‘interesting’ individuals to visually tell his story. I have decided to adapt this approach in my most recent work on St. Catherine’s Hill. The images below were made with Soth’s methodology in mind.
Fig. 3 Warde. 2023. St Catherine's Hill
Fig. 4. Warde 2023. St Catherine's Hill
I'm interested in Soth's use of imagary to tell a story that encompasses the past, present, and in some cases the future too. I have attempted to incorporate this into my current practice.
References
O’HAGAN, Sean. 2017. ‘Arts And Culture – Sleeping By The Mississippi’. Magnum Photos. [online] Available at: https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/alec-soth-sleeping-by-the-mississippi/Links to an external site. [accessed 09/02/23]
O’HAGAN, Sean. 2019. ‘Alec Soth, A Photographer Reborn: ‘I Realised Everything Is Connected’. Guardian 19 March [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/09/alec-soth-photographer-i-know-your-heart-is-beating-furious-interviewLinks to an external site. [accessed 09/02/23]
READ, Shirley and Mike SIMMONS.2017. Photographers and Research : The Role Of Research In Contemporary Photographic Practice. Abingdon: Routledge.
SHORT, Maria, Sri-Kartini LEET and Elisavet KALPAXI. 2020 2nd ed. Context And Narrative In Photography: Basics Creative Photography. London: Bloomsbury.
SOTH, Alec. 2014. ‘Alec Soth Photographs Loneliness In Silicon Valley’. Interviewed by The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on YouTube [website]. Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmzsswb7cwcLinks to an external site.[accessed 09/02/23)
SOTH, Alec. 2021. Sleeping By The Mississippi. 2nd Ed. Houston: Mack.