His last name rhymes with "both!" I very much enjoyed Soth’s lecture and the humor and lighthearted approach he takes to photography. The thought of just drifting, traveling, wandering and “taking pictures democratically” as described by Alex Soth is a notion that has always appealed to me. “The Great American Roadtrip” to just go out and document all that you encounter. To travel all over and photograph everything, “even the most mundane things are interesting” is an idea that I can very much relate to.
When I first started taking pictures, I went on photo excursions almost every other day…just hopped into my car with my camera and went onward in search of anything and everything that I found interesting to photograph. It was inspiring to hear Soth speak of his discoveries and ideas with a narrative voice that was evidenced in his photo "storytelling." What I felt was most unique about his lecture was the description of his thought process and the way in which he arrived at one photographic series and transitioned to the next. His “from here to there” approach where one image led to another was at first very basic and simple, but transitioned into a more colorful and exciting thought process that helped him arrive at a different image with a link that united them both. He described photography as a fragment that requires the audience to connect the dots. I also enjoyed his description of his portraits as a documentation of "the space that exists between himself and the subject." By using an 8x10 camera with a hood the subject is unable to directly see his gaze, allowing them to feel much less self-conscious and more at ease. The image that is projected on the ground glass is just as beautiful to him as he stated his desire to photograph it as if it were a small painting.
I wasn’t as inspired by his work as some of the other lecturers, but still felt he had valuable things to say and I really enjoyed his personal narrative approach.
When I first started taking pictures, I went on photo excursions almost every other day…just hopped into my car with my camera and went onward in search of anything and everything that I found interesting to photograph. It was inspiring to hear Soth speak of his discoveries and ideas with a narrative voice that was evidenced in his photo "storytelling." What I felt was most unique about his lecture was the description of his thought process and the way in which he arrived at one photographic series and transitioned to the next. His “from here to there” approach where one image led to another was at first very basic and simple, but transitioned into a more colorful and exciting thought process that helped him arrive at a different image with a link that united them both. He described photography as a fragment that requires the audience to connect the dots. I also enjoyed his description of his portraits as a documentation of "the space that exists between himself and the subject." By using an 8x10 camera with a hood the subject is unable to directly see his gaze, allowing them to feel much less self-conscious and more at ease. The image that is projected on the ground glass is just as beautiful to him as he stated his desire to photograph it as if it were a small painting.
I wasn’t as inspired by his work as some of the other lecturers, but still felt he had valuable things to say and I really enjoyed his personal narrative approach.
