Alec Soth Almost Gave Up Photography. What Pulled Him Back?

Minnesota-based, internationally-revered photographer Alec Soth recently released his ninth book of photographs, entitled I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating. The book is a breathlessly poetic collection that expands upon the photographer’s oeuvre of elegiac, soulful and deeply humane imagery. His latest achievement, as the New York Times recently suggested, places him rightfully into the echelon of giants such as William Eggleston, Walker Evans and Robert Frank.

But in the summer of 2017, less than two years before the book’s release, Soth wasn’t dreaming up plans for a new series of photographs. Far from it, as it turned out. He was considering walking away from photography altogether. For an entire year, he had put away his beloved large-format camera, turned away his usual gigs with The New York Times Magazine and Vogue, and spent much of his time hanging out in a remote, dilapidated farmhouse contemplating what role art would play in his future, if any.
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