Alec Soth (born 1969) is an American

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

, based in Minneapolis. Soth makes "large-scale American projects" featuring the midwestern United States. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' art critic Hilarie M. Sheets wrote that he has made a "photographic career out of finding chemistry with strangers" and photographs "loners and dreamers". His work tends to focus on the "off-beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America" according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' art critic Hannah Booth. He is a member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, Maria Eis ...

. Soth has had various books of his work published by major publishers as well as self-published through his own Little Brown Mushroom. His major publications are ''Sleeping by the Mississippi'', ''Niagara,'' ''Broken Manual'', ''Songbook'', ''I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating'', and ''A Pound of Pictures.'' He has received fellowships from the

McKnight McKnight (also MacKnight, Macknight) is a Scottish (Ulster-Scots) surname. It is a derivative of the surname MacNaught/ McNaught. Notable people with the surname include A *Allen McKnight (born 1964), Northern Irish footballer * Angela V. McKnigh ...

and

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

Foundations, was the recipient of the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography, and in 2021 received an Honorary Fellowship of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

. His photographs are in the collections of the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, the

Museum of Fine Arts Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Bui ...

, the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United Stat ...

, and the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

. His work has been exhibited widely including as part of the 2004

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

and a major solo exhibition at

Media Space Media spaces are "electronic settings in which groups of people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and time. In a media space, people can create real-time visual and acoustic environments that span physically se ...

in London in 2015.

Early life and education

Soth was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. He studied at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly i ...

in Bronxville, New York. He was reported to be "painfully shy" in his youth.

Work

Photography

Soth liked the work of

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; née Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
" The New York ...

. He traveled around the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

and made a self-printed book entitled ''Sleeping by the Mississippi'' which included both landscapes and portraits. Curators for the 2004

put him in their show, and one of his photographs entitled "Charles", of a man in a flight suit on his roof holding two model airplanes, was used in their poster. Soth's work has since been compared to that of

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work fro ...

and

Stephen Shore Stephen Shore (born October 8, 1947) is an American photographer known for his images of banal scenes and objects, and for his pioneering use of color in art photography. His books include ''Uncommon Places'' (1982) and ''American Surfaces'' (199 ...

. He has photographed for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'', '' Fortune'' and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

''. When he photographs people, Soth feels nervous at times. He said: "My own awkwardness comforts people, I think. It's part of the exchange." When he was on the road, he'd have notes describing types of pictures he wanted taped to the steering wheel of his car. One list was: "beards, birdwatchers, mushroom hunters, men's retreats, after the rain, figures from behind, suitcases, tall people (especially skinny), targets, tents, treehouses and tree lines. With people, he'll ask their permission to photograph them, and often wait for them to get comfortable; he sometimes uses an 8x10 camera. He tries to find a "narrative arc and true storytelling" and pictures in which each picture will lead to the next one. Soth has been photographing different parts of the US since his first book, ''Sleeping by the Mississippi'', was published in 2004. His second book, ''Niagara'', was published in 2006. One of his photos is of a woman in a bridal gown sitting outside what appears to be a motel; he describes having made an arrangement with a particular wedding chapel in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

which let him take pictures of couples getting married, by photographing them after their weddings. Soth made several more photographic books including ''Last Days of W'', a book about a country "exhausted by

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's presidency". Soth spent the years between 2006 and 2010 exploring the idea of retreat.Liz Jobey (January 23, 2015)
Alec Soth photographs an older, sadder and stranger America
''

FT Magazine ''FT Magazine'' is a supplement to the weekend edition of the ''Financial Times'' newspaper. History and profile ''FT Magazine'' was founded in 2003. John Lloyd was the first editor of the magazine. It is published on Saturdays and covers world ...

''. Using the pseudonym Lester B. Morrison, he created ''Broken Manual'' over four years (2006–2010) an underground instruction manual for those looking to escape their lives. Soth investigates the places in which people retreat to escape civilization, he photographs

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

survivalists Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disord ...

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

s and

runaways Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

. He concurrently produced the photo book ''From Here to There: Alec Soth's America'', an overview of Soth's photography from the early 1990s to the present. In 2010, Soth flew to the United Kingdom but despite not having applied for a work visa was allowed into the country on the understanding that if he was "caught taking photographs" he could be put in prison for two years. So he handed the camera to his young daughter who took pictures in Brighton. A 2016 photo exhibition, titled ''Hypnagogia,'' featured 30 images from Soth's 20-year exploration of the state between wakefulness and sleep. "Described as a neurological phenomenon, one recurrently associated with creativity, a

hypnagogic state Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the ''hypnagogic'' state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental ...

is the dreamlike experience while awake that conjures vivid, sometimes realistic imagery," Soth explained in the artist statement for the project. Following a 2016 assignment on a laughter yoga workshop in India for ''

'', Soth stopped working for a year.Jordan G. Teicher (February 28, 2019)
A Year of Quiet Contemplation Led to the Rebirth of Alec Soth's Photography
�''

''. During an art residency in San Francisco in 2017, later returned to his practice when the choreographer

Anna Halprin Anna Halprin (born Hannah Dorothy Schuman; July 13, 1920 – May 24, 2021) was an American choreographer and dancer. She helped redefine dance in postwar America and pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to her ...

, who was 97 at the time, invited him to photograph her at her home.

Publishing

In 2010, Soth founded the publishing house, Little Brown Mushroom (LBM). Through it, he publishes his own, and that of other like-minded people, "narrative photography books that function in a similar way to children's books," in book, magazine and newspaper formats. He has collaborated on numerous books with

Brad Zellar Brad Zellar (born November 16, 1961) is an American author and journalist. Zellar's writing often is accompanied by photographs; he has collaborated several times with photographer Alec Soth. The Coen brothers film ''A Serious Man'', nominated ...

, a Minnesota writer from the Twin Cities.

Art market

In 2004, Soth became a nominee of the

agency and in 2008 became a full member. Early in his career, he was also taken up by

Gagosian Gallery Gagosian is a contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. The gallery exhibits some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are 16 gallery spaces: five in New York City; three in London; two in Pa ...

and is now represented by

Sean Kelly Gallery Sean Kelly Gallery, founded in 1991 in New York City by British-born Sean Kelly, represents established and mid-career artists, particularly with work based in installation and performance. Owner Sean Kelly began in the British museum world by cu ...

in New York.

Personal life

Soth lives with his wife Rachel Cartee and their children in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Publications

Books of work by Soth

* ''Sleeping by the Mississippi.'' With essays by

Patricia Hampl Patricia Hampl (born March 12, 1946) is an American memoirist, writer, lecturer, and educator. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and is one of the founding members of the Loft Literary Center. Life Patric ...

and Anne Wilkes Tucker and "Selected Notes to the Photographs". ** Göttingen:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Gerh ...

, 2004. . ** Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. . ** Expanded edition with 2 additional photographs. London: Mack. . * ''Niagara.'' Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. . Photographs by Alec Soth, essays by

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', '' The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and th ...

,"1962", and Philip Brookman, "Over the Rainbow: Alec Soth's Niagara". ** London: Mack, 2018. . * ''Fashion Magazine.'' Paris: Magnum, 2007. . * ''Dog Days Bogota.'' Göttingen: Steidl, 2007. . * ''Last Days of W.'' St. Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2008. * ''Sheep.'' TBW Subscription Series #2. Oakland, CA: TBW, 2009. Edition of 800 copies. The other volumes are by Todd Hido, Abner Nolan and Marianne Mueller. * ''Broken Manual.'' Göttingen: Steidl, 2010. . With Lester B. Morrison. * ''From Here to There: Alec Soth's America.'' Minneapolis, MN:

, 2010. . Catalogue of a retrospective exhibition curated by Siri Engberg. Foreword by Olga Viso; texts by

Geoff Dyer Geoff Dyer (born 5 June 1958) is an English author. He has written a number of novels and non-fiction books, some of which have won literary awards. Personal background Dyer was born and raised in Cheltenham, England, as the only child of a ...

, "Riverrun"; Britt Salvesen, "American History";

Barry Schwabsky Barry Schwabsky (b. Paterson, New Jersey, in 1957) is an American art critic, art historian and poet. He has taught at the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, New York University, Yale University, and Goldsmiths College, among others. Art c ...

, "A Wandering Art"; a poem by

August Kleinzahler August Kleinzahler (born December 10, 1949) is an American poet. Life and career Until he was 11, he went to school in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where he grew up. He then commuted to the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, graduating in 1967. He wrote p ...

, "Sleeping it off in Rapid City"; and Soth in conversation with Bartholomew Ryan, "Dismantling My Career". Includes separate book ''The Loneliest Man in Missouri'' by Soth, inserted into back cover. * ''Ash Wednesday, New Orleans.'' Kamakura, Japan: Super Labo, 2010. * ''One Mississippi.'' Nazraeli, 2010. * ''Lonely Boy Mag. No. A-1: Alec Soth's Midwestern Exotica.'' St. Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2011. Edition of 1000 copies. Photographs and text by Soth. * ''One Day: 10 Photographers.'' Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2011. . A boxed set of ten books of photographs taken on 21 June 2010. Edited by Harvey Benge. The other books are by Jessica Backhaus,

Gerry Badger Gerald David "Gerry" Badger (born 1946) is an English writer and curator of photography, and a photographer. In 2018 he received the J Dudley Johnston Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Life and career Badger was born in 1946 in Northam ...

, Benge, John Gossage, Todd Hido, Rob Hornstra, Rinko Kawauchi, Eva Maria Ocherbauer and

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in ...

. * ''La Belle Dame Sans Merci.'' Edizioni Punctum, 2011. Edition of 500 copies. ** Italian-language edition. Text in Italian. 175 copies of the 500 total edition. * ''Looking for Love.'' Berlin: Kominek Bücher, 2012. * ''Bogota Funsaver.'' One Picture Book 88. Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2014. . Edition of 500 copies. * ''Songbook.'' Göttingen. London: Mack, 2015. . * ''Gathered Leaves.'' London: Mack, 2015. . 29 large format postcards and mini facsimile versions of ''Sleeping by the Mississippi,'' ''Niagara,'' ''Broken Manual,'' and ''Songbook.'' With an introduction by Kate Bush and an essay by Aaron Schuman. * ''I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating.'' London: Mack, 2019. . Includes an interview with Soth by

Hanya Yanagihara Hanya Yanagihara (born 1974) is an American novelist, editor, and travel writer. She grew up in Hawaii. She is best known for her bestselling novel '' A Little Life'', which was shortlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize, and for being the editor-in-c ...

. * ''A Pound of Pictures''. London: Mack, 2022. . * ''Gathered Leaves Annotated''. London: Mack, 2022.

Publications with others

* ''Suburban World: The Norling Photos.'' Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society; Borealis, 2008. . Brad Zellar, Irwin D. Norling, Soth. * ''The Auckland Project.'' Santa Fe, NM:

Radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

, 2011. . Two volumes in a slipcase, the other is by John Gossage, ''Southern stars: a guide to the constellations visible in the southern hemisphere.'' * ''Alec Soth's Lonely Boy Mag 2: Boys and Their Cars.'' St. Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2011. Text and photographs by Todd Hido, Soth,

Chad States Chad States (born 1975) is an American photographer and artist, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His photographic series include ''Cruising'' and ''Masculinities''. Early life and education States was born in Edmonds, Washington. He holds a ...

and erotic

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

s by Peter Davidson. Edition of 1000 copies. * ''The 1968 Project: A Nation Coming of Age.'' Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 2011. . Brad Zellar, Soth. * ''Rodarte.'' JRP, Ringier, 2011. Photographs by Soth and

Catherine Opie Catherine Sue Opie (born 1961) is an American fine-art photographer and educator. She lives and works in Los Angeles, as a professor of photography at University of California at Los Angeles. Opie studies the connections between mainstream and i ...

. * ''House of Coates.'' Photographs by Alec Soth and Lester B. Morrison, text by Brad Zellar. ** Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. . **

Coffee House A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

, 2014. . * ''Ohio.'' LBM Dispatch #1. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. . Text by Brad Zellar. Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Upstate.'' LBM Dispatch #2. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. Text by Brad Zellar. Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Michigan.'' LBM Dispatch #3. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. . Text by Brad Zellar. Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Three Valleys.'' LBM Dispatch #4. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2013. Text by Brad Zellar. Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Colorado.'' LBM Dispatch #5. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2013. Text by Brad Zellar Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Texas.'' LBM Dispatch #6. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2013. Text by Brad Zellar. Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Georgia.'' LBM Dispatch #7. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2014. Text by Brad Zellar. Edition of 2000 copies. * ''Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot.'' Rome: Contrasto, 2013. . Transcripts compiled from conversations between Soth and Zanot, with new and previously published photographs by Soth. Zanot contributes an introduction, "Alec Soth: the Recycling of Photography". *''The Parameters of Our Cage.'' London: Mack, 2020. . Correspondence between Soth and Christopher Fausto Cabrera, an inmate in the

Minnesota Correctional Facility Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over ...

Books edited or with contributions by Soth

* ''The Image To Come: How Cinema Inspires Photographers.'' Göttingen: Steidl, 2007. * ''Georgian Spring: A Magnum Journal'' = ქართულიგაზაფხული მაგნუმი ს დღიურები. London:

Chris Boot Chris Boot (born 27 May 1960) is a British photography curator, book publisher, and has worked in a variety of other roles related to photography. He was director of London’s Photo Co-op, director of the London and New York offices of Magnum Ph ...

, New York: Magnum, 2009. . Introduction by Wendell Steavenson. Photographs by various Magnum photographers. * ''Brighton Picture Hunt.'' Brighton:

Photoworks Photoworks is a UK development agency dedicated to photography, based in Brighton, England and founded in 1995.

, 2010. . Photographs by Carmen Soth, edited by Soth. * ''Postcards From America.'' Photographs by Soth,

Jim Goldberg Jim Goldberg (born 1953) is an American artist and photographer, whose work reflects long-term, in-depth collaborations with neglected, ignored, or otherwise outside-the-mainstream populations. Among the many awards Goldberg has received are thr ...

Susan Meiselas Susan Meiselas (born June 21, 1948) is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and been a full member since 1980. Currently she is the President of the Magnum Foundation. She is best known for ...

, Paolo Pellegrin,

Mikhael Subotzky Mikhael Subotzky (born Cape Town, South Africa, 1981) is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. His installation, film, video and photographic work have been exhibited widely in museums and galleries, and received awards including the KLM ...

, and Ginger Strand. Magnum, 2012. A book, bumper stickers, a newspaper, two fold-outs, three cards, a poster and five zines, all in a box. Edition of 500 copies. * ''About Face.'' San Francisco: Pier 24 Photography, 2014. . With essays by Philip Gefter,

Sandra S. Phillips Sandra S. "Sandy" Phillips (born 1945) is an American writer, and curator working in the field of photography. She is the Curator Emeritus of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She joined the museum as curator of photography in 1 ...

, and Ulrike Schneider. Edition of 1000 copies. Exhibition catalog. * ''The Open Road: Photography & the American Road Trip.'' Edited and with text by

David Campany David Campany (born 8 October 1967) is a British writer, curator, artist and educator, working mainly with photography. He has written and edited books; contributed essays and reviews to other books, journals, magazines and websites; curated pho ...

. Photographs by various. ** New York:

Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

, 2014. . ** ''Road Trips: Voyages photographiques à travers l'Amérique.'' Paris: Textuel, 2014. . French-language version. ** ''En la Carretera: Viajes fotográficos a través de Norteamérica.'' Madrid: La Fábrica, 2014. . Spanish-language version. * ''Rochester 585/716: A Postcard from America Project.'' New York: Aperture; San Francisco: Pier 24 Photography, 2015. . Edition of 1000 copies. Photographs by various Magnum photographers. * ''ABC Photography.'' Berlin: Tarzipan, 2017. Photographs by various. Text by Monte Packham. * ''Home.'' Tokyo:

Tokyo, 2018. .

Solo exhibitions

* 2006: ''Alec Soth 'Niagara',''

, New York City * 2009/10: ''Niagara,''

Williams College Museum of Art The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) is a college-affiliated art museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is located on the campus of Williams College, and is close to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and the Clark ...

, Williamstown, MA * 2010/11: ''Alec Soth: Black line of woods,''

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (2 ...

, Atlanta, GA * 2010: ''Mississippi Niagara,''

Triennale di Milano The Triennale di Milano is a design and art museum in the Parco Sempione in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is housed in the Palazzo dell'Arte, which was designed by Giovanni Muzio and built between 1931 and 1933; construction was fina ...

, Milan * 2010/11: ''Alec Soth: From here to there,''

, Minneapolis, MN * 2012: ''Alec Soth: La Belle Dame sans Merci,'' Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Central Exhibition Hall

Moscow Manege The Moscow Manege ( rus, Мане́ж, p=mɐˈnʲeʂ, a=Ru-манеж.ogg) is an oblong building along the west side of Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s and lies adjacent to Red Square. It is the site of Moscow Design Museum since ...

, Moscow * 2015/16: ''Gathered Leaves,''

Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funde ...

, 2015/16;

The Finnish Museum of Photography ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

, Helsinki, 2016/17,

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...

, Kamakura & Hayama, Japan, 2022 * 2020: ''Alec Soth: Photography is a Language'', Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna

Collections

Soth's work is held in the following public collections: *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

, Chicago, IL: 3 prints *

Museum of Contemporary Photography The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) was founded in 1976 by Columbia College Chicago as the successor to the Chicago Center for Contemporary Photography. The museum houses a permanent collection as well as the Midwest Photographers Project ...

, Chicago, IL: 6 prints (as of June 2018) *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

, New York: 1 print (as of June 2018) *

Pier 24 Photography Pier 24 Photography is a non-profit art museum located on the Port of San Francisco directly under the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The organization houses the permanent collection of the Pilara Foundation, which collects, preserves and ex ...

, San Francisco, CA: 12 prints (as of June 2018) *

, San Francisco, CA: 14 prints (as of June 2018) *

, Minneapolis, MN: 55 holdings (prints and books, as of June 2018) *

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

, New York: 4 prints (as of June 2018)

Awards

* 1999:

McKnight Foundation The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in ...

Photography Fellowship, Minneapolis, MN. * 2001: Travel and Study Grant, Jerome Foundation, for ''Sleeping by the Mississippi.'' * 2001:

Minneapolis College of Art and Design The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

(MCAD) / Jerome Foundation Fellowships for Emerging Artists. * 2003: Santa Fe Prize for Photography. * 2004: McKnight Foundation Photography Fellowship, Minneapolis, MN. * 2005: Art Works Residency Program, CEPA Gallery: Contemporary Photography & Visual Arts Center, Buffalo, NY. Whilst working on ''Niagara.'' * 2006: Finalist,

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to: *''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places *''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym *Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...

. A £3000 prize. * 2008: Bush Fellowship, Bush Foundation, Saint Paul, MN. A $50000 grant. * 2011: Infinity Award from

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...

, Publication category, for ''From Here to There: Alec Soth's America''. * 2013: John Simon

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in Photography from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowships to professionals who have demonstrated exceptional ...

. * 2013: McKnight Foundation Photography Fellowship, Minneapolis, MN. * 2014: Knight Arts Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation An award of $35000 to create The Winnebago Workshop. *2021: Honorary Fellowship of the

, Bristol

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soth, Alec 1969 births Living people Photographers from Minnesota Artists from Minneapolis Sarah Lawrence College alumni Magnum photographers