Gathered Leaves: Photographs by Alec Soth
All four looked
at different aspects of America. I think my favourite was the earliest from
2004 “Sleeping by the Mississippi” where he travels along the river with a
large format camera and recorded people and places he found there. Many of the
pictures were of the boyhood homes of famous Americans such as Lindberg’s home
in pale blues with cool light. All the pictures were very clear and distinct
and there was a good mix of people and place.
“Niagra” from
2006 looked at the reality and myth of Niagra Falls mixing photos of the falls
themselves in the tradition of American sublime landscapes with pictures of
couples who come to get married there. There were sad pictures of the motels in
the area where people often stay the night before their weddings.
“Broken Manual”
from 2010 turned a sympatric lens on hermits in America exploring the desire to
run away and withdrew from civilization. These pictures showed great
tenderness. I loved the ones of a houses built into the cliff.
Finally his most
recent work “Songbook” from 2014 is a
look at American society today . He has travelled with a writer Brad Zellar.
They worked as if journalists creating a newspaper recording the events around
them that day. So far they have created seven books on seven states. This is
creating a wonderful chronicle of 21st century American life.
All four projects
showed a wonderful ability to tell stories through photographs.
Closes 28 March
2016.
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