Like Constellations
I need an anchor. In last week’s newsletter I wrote about an increasing descent into abstraction and the probable reasons behind this. Some of it creative, some of it contextual.
But this morning I was taking notes while watching Alec Soth. Someone very kindly gave me his Magnum workshop as a gift and I’ve been taking it slow, digesting each episode. What’s most interesting to me so far is Soth’s process, or rather the way that process developed over time. As with Stephen Shore for instance (or Sally Mann whom he also mentions), there is at the core of that photography a very real search for a common thread. A theme, I guess. And I’ve always struggled with defining an overarching theme. Mainly because it inevitably feels artificial at some point. Photography has always been reactive for me—narratives weave themselves subconsciously and emerge later. I only dimly light the way. This is why the few exhibitions I’ve had never seemed right; I’ve yet to find the proper glue that would hold it all together.
And maybe there’s no such thing.
I stepped outside a few days ago and explored the microcosms in our yard. More abstraction. Small but seemingly limitless...
like constellations.
