Alec Soth
Alec Soth is an American Photographer who concentrates his work on "off beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America". Some think his photos have a very cinematic feel to them, like they were taken straight out of a movie. He shoots portraits mainly, and uses an 8x10 camera. What he attempts to capture in all his photos is the equal importance of the subject and the the journey getting there. Some of his influences are said to be Walker Evens, Stephen Shore, and Diane Arbus. He shoots most of his photos outside, using natural light, avoiding harsh shadows by shooting on overcast days. All his photos contain very dull colors in order to better blend in with the surrounding nature and avoid drawing too much attention to the subject. This also makes his pictures more relatable and seem more natural and real.
This image was taken from the cover of one of his books called "Sleeping by the Mississippi". It was taken in Minnesota during the winter. A man is shown dressed in a flight suit standing on a roof, holding two vintage model planes. This photo just begs to have a story associated with it, as many of his works do, although I could not find any back story on it unfortunately.This picture looks like it would have been a fairly bright scene to expose for, so he probably had to set the shutter moderately fast, while using a larger aperture to achieve the blurred background. The original print is a Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum and is blown up to 40x32 inches. The fact that he was born in Minnesota, I think really effects the final product of his work. All his work ends up embodying some memory or familiarity from his own life.
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