Finding Beauty in the Everyday: The Unique Vision of Alec Soth

Hello Everyone!,
Today I want to talk about another photographer who has a unique approach to photography. I like many photographers for good reason too, Alec Soth is one of them, because of his unique view of the world, to understand his way of view we have to understand his photos. I think what sets him apart from other photographers is he takes photos of daily life objects of things we come across in a dream-like state. I'm not sure how to put it into words, his photos are very still with chilling colors sometimes, they are haunting and beautiful at the same time in their own way but they are the objects or scenes we see every day, and that's what makes Alec Soth unique.

Source

Alec Soth makes us wonder if it's even reality with his pictures because even though they are things we see every day, he captures them in such quality with peculiar and chilling colors we are left wondering if it's even reality or a dream. Most of photographers who take portraits, street, and even landscape would use very small color palettes when taking their photos, but alec soth takes portraits and landscape with a variety of color palette, His photos also explores travel, American Western style, loneliness, isolation, etc,

Source

Alec Soth is born in Minneapolis in 1969, He did his bachelor's Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. reportedly he was not sociable in his youth, After he started taking photos, he became popular for his offbeat approach to photography and has been featured in several popular magazines such as New York Times, The Guardian, etc. He is also a member of Magnum Photos which is an international photography cooperative.

Source

He travels a lot and interacts with the people he meets on his travels, his interaction might be the key to his photos which depict the loneliness and isolation themes. The New York Times wrote that "photographic career out of finding chemistry with strangers". he has a talent for finding, capturing, and documenting the interesting characters and scenes he comes across in his travels. I think his photos are making people imagine what people's lives are like when we look at his pictures. I have written some of his quotes that really strike me and define his works.

QUOTES

• “We all confront the parameters of our cage eventually. What we do when we reach those bars helps define us.”

Source

• *“- Picture yourself on a surfboard. Once you find your balance, loosen your grip. Breathe. Accept that no matter how good you think you are, you will fall. Again and again.

• We take pictures not only to see, but to be seen; not only to remember, but to be remembered. But when you are surfing, it's best to forget about the people on the beach.”*

Source

• “When burdened by the feeling that there are too many photographs in the world, I ask myself if there are too many flowers.”

Source

• I always say that photography's closest cousin is poetry because of the way it sparks your imagination and leaves gaps for the viewer to fill in.

Source

• Photography is a very lonely medium. There’s a kind of beautiful loneliness in voyeurism. And that’s why I’m a photographer.

Source

Even though I don't have any experience in photography, I get motivated by reading about these unique photographers who are not mainstream and approach photography in a unique way. I feel like Alec Soth is really like sean penn from the secret life of water mitty, if you haven't watched the film, I highly recommend you to watch it, it helped me a lot in covid lockdown. Alec's works are a bit similar to the sean penn's in that film, maybe that's why I like Alan so much. anyway, I hope I didn't bore you with my bad writing.

Hope you had fun reading, Thank you and Steem on!