Alec Soth - Walks to Work
Alec Soth has created many projects over the years that follow a traditional 'on the road' type of theme where he photographs anything from landscapes to portraits while he travels. Some projects he's done while using this theme of photography include 'Niagara' and 'Sleeping by the Mississippi'. In the project 'Walks to Work' published in 2017 with Magnum, documents his walk from his home in Minneapolis to his studio in Saint Paul. He normally uses his minivan to make this journey, but that was abandoned once the project started. He felt that walking to work gave him a chance to observe the 'everyday delights' he usually drove past without a thought. This project for him is about finding out what that place (Minnesota) meant to him and trying to find inspiration in 'his patch of the world Minnesota'. This project was published as part of the 'Home' project proposed by Magnum and Fuji film.
"Photography for me is one medium, one tool for exploring the world and my relationship to the world"
- Alec Soth
This photo uses a low exposure which I like. I also like how symmetrical the shot is and I would like to experiment with this in my own project. The shot is a landscape image taken outside which I would also like to do in my own project.
This photograph taken in the project of a narrow road behind houses showcases Soth's use of deep depth of field. Throughout the whole project not just this image he repeatedly uses a deep depth of field which is controlled by the size of the aperture, and to create this depth of field in this photo and others Alec would've had to use a very small aperture such as f/22. As I don't think Alec was using a tripod to take his pictures as he was walking an 8 mile journey, he would've had to use a faster shutter speed to achieve the sharp focus that the image has. The darker and lower exposure lighting tells us that its earlier in the day and in comparison to his other images it tells us where this photo fits into his work and tells us a bit more about the narrative of the project. The white balance in this image is cooler and I would say around 5000 kelvin to 6000 kelvin. There doesn't seem to be any really harsh shadows or harsh lighting in this image which definitely conveys a very peaceful and serene atmosphere for the image. The viewpoint of the photograph above uses an eye-level wide long shot, this allows for a larger scene to be captured and to create the feeling that we are in the photographer's shoes seeing the moment exactly as he saw it. Soth utilises compositional techniques in this image to give it depth. The leading lines up the road give the image some dimension and dramatises it, and it captures the focus of the eye and drags it up the image allowing us to take in the details of the different house alongside the leading lines. I like his use of colour in the image too as the saturation is not too overwhelming but the subtle pops of colour in the sunset, houses and fences give the image some dimension and makes it more interesting to look at. The image creates a great sense of depth with the depth of field and leading lines and it makes the image create a calmer feeling. The image also has a lot of texture from the houses to the roads and cars which definitely gives the picture more dimension. I think this simplistic image conveys Soth's themes of finding meaning in place, we can feel the calming sense of familiarity through the soft lighting and minimalist wide establishing shots. I will be influenced by Sloth's work in my own plans and shoots by using leading lines and long shots that use a deep depth of field with soft lighting to create the comforting sense of familiarity that he achieves in his images.
