Alec Soth

Alec Soth works on powerful narrative vignettes. His book 'Sleeping with Mississippi' show beautifully produced images of the 'outsiders' in the American south. A bizarre mix of people and their surroundings showcasing the nature of their lives and surrounding environment.The people in the photographs never engage fully with the camera by either looking directly at the lens with a blank,dead expression,or looking away altogether. He does not attempt to glamorise the subjects or conditions and as a result we can feel the cold and the misery of these subjects. There is a desire to know more about these people and their existence because so little is given away in the photographs themselves.Why is this middle age man dressed up as a pilot with toy aeroplanes? His still lives also work superbly well with their simplistic atmospheric settings.