Alec Soth

Born in 1969 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Alec Soth is a photographer who makes what are referred to as “large scale American projects” depicting the Midwest and employing elements of folklore and narrative. Critics have compared his works to those of Walker Evans and Stephen Shore, among others. Being said to have been “painfully shy” in his youth, Soth attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. He was a fan of the work of Diane Arbus. Soth would travel along the Mississippi river, during which he published in 2004 a landscape and portrait book titled Sleeping By The Mississippi. Curators of the 2004 Whitney Biennial put him in their show and used one of his pictures for their poster.

Soth received fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome foundations as well as the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography. His photographs are found many significant public and private collections, including the Minneapolis Institute for the Arts, the Walker Art Center, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work has also been featured in many solo and group exhibitions. In 2006, he published his second book, Niagara, which featured photos he took as part of an arrangement with a wedding chapel in Niagara falls on the condition that he take his photos after the ceremony is finished. He also published several other books including The Last Days of W, a commentary on the nation during the final days of George W. Bush’s presidency. In 2004 he became a nominee for Magnum Photos, becoming a full member four years later. In 2010 he traveled to the UK, but was denied a work visa. He was still allowed to be in the country as long as he didn’t take any photos, a loophole he got around by having his daughter take the photos in his stead.