Shawn Records talks to Jason Fulford and Alec Soth about book publishing.
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Melanie McWhorter just published a post in which she mentions a detail of a talk Alec Soth gave in New Mexico: “At one point, he said that one fellow Magnum photographer, who I will not mention here, viewed his work as mean-spirited. He left this description with very little detail in the beginning, but when he reached a particular image, he said this is the one that sparked the comment.”
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In a new post, Alec brings up the “if seeing too much contemporary work is problematic.” Which I want to call the photo blog scene’s strange attractor: “Does it do more harm than good to read all these blogs?”
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Alec has been working hard to create some great contents for the Magnum blog, and his latest post, Wear Good Shoes: Advice to young photographers is a must read. 35 different photographers tell you their secrets of success - there’s gotta be something for everybody…
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By now, everybody probably knows that Alec Soth has returned to blogging, over at Magnum’s blog. Today, he posted a conversation with Alex Webb about Alex’ work for InSight America.
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“With a $3 trillion war bill and an economy that flounders as China’s soars, could America’s era of dominance on the world stage be coming to an end? Mick Brown and the photographer Alec Soth travelled across America and China to observe how the future of these two great nations is intertwined, and to find out whether, in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics and the US election, we are on the brink of a new world order. In the first of a four-part series, they meet army recruitment officers in Virginia and cadets at West Point.” Part 2: “Once symbolic of optimism and certainty, America’s credit-crunched suburbs may be facing a decline as dramatic as that of Detroit, itself once a beacon of industry.” (found via Colin Pantall’s blog) Part 3: “The thrusting tower blocks of Chongqing stand testament to the headlong economic growth that is changing the lives of millions of Chinese. Mick Brown and the photographer Alec Soth continue their investigation into the contrasting fortunes of the US and China by exploring the world’s fastest-growing city.” Part 4: “With the Beijing Olympics, China hopes to cement its position alongside the USA on the podium of global power. In the final part of their special investigation, Mick Brown and photographer Alec Soth examine how both nations are playing the Games.”
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I just found - via PDNPulse - that Peter van Agtmael, one of my Photographers of the Year 2007 has become a Magnum nominee (find the conversation I had with him here). And Alec Soth is now a full member (find the conversation I had with him here). Congratulations to both and to the other new nominee Olivia Arthur and full members Jonas Bendiksen and Antoine d’Agata!
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When discussing what “makes” a great portrait with Exposure Compensation’s Miguel Garcia-Guzman, we quickly realized that we couldn’t really agree on much. So we figured we might as well ask some other people, and we sent out an email to a large number of photographers, fine art and commercial, bloggers, curators, editors, and gallerists: “What makes a good portrait? Could you provide us an example of a portrait that you really like - either from your or someone else’s work - and say why the portrait works so well for you?” to publish what we would get back on our blogs, as a collaborative effort to get a little bit closer to understanding the topic. Below is what we got back from those who managed to find the time to write something. Our thanks to everybody who contributed!
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A little while ago, Alec Soth got in touch with Doug DuBois to talk about his work. As is sometimes the case with interviews, things took their time. When the piece was finished, past the point where Alec had decided about his blog’s hiatus, he approached me and asked whether I was interested in posting the interview on Conscientious, along with his introduction and the images showcasing Doug’s work. Of course, I was. Find everything below. My thanks to Alec and Doug for sharing! - Jörg Colberg (Alec Soth:) The most influential exhibition during my college years was Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort (MoMA, 1991). The show made domestic life seem like a worthwhile subject for photographers. Especially exciting was that the show introduced me to a bunch of new photographers. Until then I’d never heard of Gregory Crewdson or Philip-Lorca DiCorcia. But the greatest discovery, and the star of the show, was Doug DuBois. More than anyone else, his family pictures lived up to the thrilling title of the show.
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