Alec Soth is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Soth normally takes large scale photos that are based in the mid-west, United States. Most believe that he has sprung in the photography career path due to his chemistry with the strangers he meets and photographs. This is ironic because people who knew him in his youth said he was "painfully shy". But it seems like photography has opened himself up and allowed him to create beautiful images.
One of his images that stood out to me was the one shown below:
When I saw this photo I thought to myself, "what is going on here". The choices made here are very strange and I am constantly trying to figure out the reason behind this photo. Looking at it this man looks like he was once homeless or he is very poor. The background also makes be believe this further due to the broken wood and torn down place behind him. It is also strange though because this man is wearing a suit and tie while holding some type of book that looks like it could be a Bible. It also looks like he is holding a palm from a palm tree which goes along with the thought that the book is a Bible. But the question is why have him dressed so nice and holding things to do with the churches, yet have such a broken down environment behind him? My thought is that either Soth or the man have an opinion about the churches and that they might think that they are corrupt? I am not sure, but I really like this photo because it raises so many interesting thoughts and questions.
Another photo that I really enjoy when I saw it was this one below:
This one gives me the same emotions from the last photo, but I think that is why I like it. What it looks like here is that there are four subjects who look like they are in jail, but are allowed to work outside the jail. It is ironic though because they are holding objects that are dangerous. It is also ironic because this is taken in front of a giant cross. It is also weird because they have a car to the left as well as if they drove themselves there. The main question I think of is what does it look like they are about to do or have done already?
I really like how Soth captures images that bring up multiple questions and thoughts to think about while looking at his work. Although his photos are not the most pleasing to look at as others, they are really well captured to discuss the thoughts behind them. That is why I like Alec Soth. I really think this would be something I would like to capture, photos that bring up multiple questions.
-Bronwen Lewis
No comments:
Post a Comment