Slog - Comments on In/Visible Is Up: Alec Soth at the Sorrento Hotel http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent Gus's Pawn Shop from the series NIAGARA by Alec Soth Alec Soth is a particular sort of wandering American storyteller, a lyrical documentarian. When people talk about his photographs, they bring up names like Robert Frank, like Flannery O'Connor, like Mark Twain, even. Recently Soth was in Seattle, receiving an award from the Photographic Center Northwest and staying at the Sorrento Hotel on First Hill. I met him just after he arrived, and he was already a little out of sorts. He had lost his wallet. Then he found it, I don't know how, he left me in the... Copyright 2008 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:24:06 -0800 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:51:17 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball That pawn shop snap is pretty good, Graves. It reminds me of Hirst's medicine cabinets...a little Martin Parr...and the way the ring box floats on air is lovely and cool.

]]> Jubilation T. Cornball http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent#c1168809 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent#c1168809 Visual Art Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:35:56 -0800 Comment by homage to me Mr. Chad's comment,

"...sentimentality is not the enemy, detachment is the enemy."

I agree. In sentimentality, there is life. In detachment, death. Or, might as well be.

]]> homage to me http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent#c1168897 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent#c1168897 Visual Art Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:27:45 -0800 Comment by Q*bert H. Humphrey I love Alec Soth. And not just because I used to live in the same Minneapolis neighborhood as him, or because one of his books I bought became amazingly valuable. Normally, I hate dreary outdoor photography, but his always manages to be amazingly captivating. I don't want to get carried away with praise, so I'll just pirate a bit of an Amazon review: "Alec Soth builds on the tradition established by William Eggleston, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld. But Soth dramatically moves beyond these masters by presenting a more eccentric cast of characters, a stronger thematic melody and a more personal insight."

Oh, and Amazon tells me he was involved in the Norling archive book. Awesome.

]]> Q*bert H. Humphrey http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent#c1168951 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/invisible_is_up_alec_soth_at_the_sorrent#c1168951 Visual Art Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:51:17 -0800