Finding a creative process behind a creator. Alec Soth

Somewhere To Disappear By Alec Soth

Soth has depicted, the decline of American empire amazingly in this documentary style piece. I found it to be very intense and interesting. He creates an ideal or even just the search for one. He takes a personal step into his surroundings while shooting. Creating this idea of escaping. He uses past experience to relate to some of the people in his documentary. Finding a place to go inside yourself to create something amazing. He wanted to show the side of the country that people don't get to see. He shows us how the people who live outside the circle of the "American dream". The people who are forgotten or sometimes just classed as outsiders. He put himself into unrealistic situations to get a complete feel of his surroundings. Making himself become one of these people. Gaining trust and bonding with the people he shot. Finding out their stories and why they chose to live this way. What life is like outside of the social circle. Asking questions, challenging reasons. Is this really a carefree life? Use of exploration, equipment and time. How he got to the end of this project and what it took to get there. Who did he have to become to get to his end result. I am interested to see from the next few photographers that I look into what their creative processes are and if they in anyway differ from Soth.