Alec Soth

Alec Soth's works are firmly rooted in the distinctly American tradition of "on the road" photography, as developed by Walker Evans, Robert Frank and Stephen Shore. Soth describes his own photographs as "loners and dreamers," a description that conjures associations with Jack Kerouac and Bob Dylan. His haunting, banal images of contemporary America—which include both landscapes and portraits—bring together seemingly disparate subjects, such as birdwatchers, mushroom hunters, suitcases, tall people, tents, and hermits to tell the folkloric history of a specific place. Past topics include the Mississippi River, wedding chapels at Niagara Falls, and the final days of the Presidency of George W. Bush.

The recipient of numerous awards, including fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome Foundations, Soth's images have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Fortune, Newsweek and other publications. Constantly fascinated with the off-beat, Soth will go down in the history books as one the great chroniclers of early 21st century America.