Alec Soth

b. 1969
United States

"Photography's closest cousin is poetry because of the way it sparks your imagination and leaves gaps for the viewer to fill in."

– Alec Soth

Available Works

Maiden Rock, Wisconsin

Alec Soth

Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Fort Jefferson Memorial Cross

Alec Soth

Fort Jefferson Memorial Cross, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Harbor Marina (Morning), Memphis, TN

Alec Soth

Harbor Marina (Morning), Memphis, TN, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Dallas (Vagabond Path Book)

Alec Soth

Dallas (Vagabond Path Book), 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Luxora, Arkansas

Alec Soth

Luxora, Arkansas, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Adelyn, Ash Wednesday, New Orleans, LA

Alec Soth

Adelyn, Ash Wednesday, New Orleans, LA, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
The Farm, Angola State Prison, LA

Alec Soth

The Farm, Angola State Prison, LA, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Green Island, Iowa (Ball of String)

Alec Soth

Green Island, Iowa (Ball of String), 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Home, Treasure Island Casino, Red Wing, Minnesota

Alec Soth

Home, Treasure Island Casino, Red Wing, Minnesota, 2000

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Hotel, Dallas City, Illinois

Alec Soth

Hotel, Dallas City, Illinois, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Jimmie’s Apartment, Memphis, TN

Alec Soth

Jimmie’s Apartment, Memphis, TN, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Immaculate Conception Church, Kaskaskia, IL

Alec Soth

Immaculate Conception Church, Kaskaskia, IL, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Green Island, Iowa

Alec Soth

Green Island, Iowa, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Charles Lindbergh’s Boyhood Bed, Little Falls, Minnesota

Alec Soth

Charles Lindbergh’s Boyhood Bed, Little Falls, Minnesota, 1999

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Celebrity Room, Brainerd, MN

Alec Soth

Celebrity Room, Brainerd, MN, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Kym, Polish Palace, Minneapolis, MN

Alec Soth

Kym, Polish Palace, Minneapolis, MN, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Maiden Rock, Wisconsin

Alec Soth

Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Sunshine, Memphis, TN

Alec Soth

Sunshine, Memphis, TN, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Maiden Rock, Wisconsin

Alec Soth

Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse
Maiden Rock, Wisconsin

Alec Soth

Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, 2002

Digital chromogenic print
Signed on reverse

Biography

Celebrated as one of the most important US photographers working today, Alec Soth merges a documentary style with a poetic sensibility.

Soth's first photographic series, Sleeping by the Mississippi, evolved from a series of road trips along the Mississippi River made between 1999 and 2002. The series captured America’s iconic yet often neglected “third coast”, and took Soth from his native Minnesota down into the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. Not bound by a rigid concept or ideology, Soth created the series out of a quintessentially American spirit of wanderlust. 

Soth followed Sleeping by the Mississippi with the 2006 series NIAGARA, in which he documented the famous falls as the site of “spectacular suicides and affordable honeymoons.” His series Broken Manual (2010) looked to those Americans who have abandoned civilisation in favour of inspiration.

Born in 1969, Soth grew up in rural Minnesota. He studied at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville. He is a member of Magnum Photos and runs an independent publishing company LBM (Little Brown Mushroom). Soth has published over twenty-five books including Sleeping by the Mississippi (2004), NIAGARA (2006) Broken Manual (2010) and Songbook (2015). Soth has had over fifty solo exhibitions including survey shows at Jeu de Paume, Paris (2008), the Walker Art Center, Minnesota (2010) and Media Space, London (2015). Soth has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2013). His work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Exhibitions

September 20 – October 21, 2017

Sleeping by the Mississippi