Alec, your channel and these episodes are the perfect Antidote to the current youtube photography channel status quo. It’s exactly what this platform needs more of. Keep it up.
Alec thank you for your brutal honesty about being declined sponsorship from that camera company! Artists get rejected a lot, and it helps soften the blow a bit knowing that still happens for you too.
Thanks so much. I'm enthralled by the beauty of the mistranslation, "I was driving on the highway. There was a forehead made of old wood in the passenger seat and it was full of water droplets. I knew something was strange, but I decided to touch it. After all, it was a swim ring."
Amazing video Alec! Just realized that on the back of the japanese „Mark II“- book are six cigarette boxes called „seven stars“ which fits your google translation.
There's all sorts of fascinating stuff here about the layers of experience (personal, generational, cultural) that colour the reading of an image (and everything else). I'm working on a project that's made of pictures of a specific type of British suburbia. It reminds me of visiting relatives in the '70s. It speaks to me of light, and modernity, and fun. Other people may see it as hideous bad taste. Or just somewhere boring elderly relatives live now. I've no idea what a Japanese person would make of it. Great video full of insight. Thanks.
Kissa is pronounced Ki-ssa with a small pause between the “i” and “s”. Kissa is a shortened word for kissaten (喫茶店), literally a "tea-drinking shop". It is a Japanese-style tearoom that is also a coffee shop.
sweet voice, very interesting random talk (I love random, it's my way of life), searching for organizing my photos and my texts and finding ideas, thank you for sharing your library... C. from Fontainebleau near Paris, France
Totally captivating talk. It made me think of conversations with bilingual/multilingual friends who have brought up that when speaking a different language they become quite a different person. One reason for this may be that 'equivalent' words in different languages may not have the same meaning or communicate the same feeling. It also made me think of Orwell's Newspeak concept that without the language to articulate an idea, the idea itself ceases to exist. And all of these thoughts arising from discussion from some stunning books- Kawauchi's work was visceral, I have never seen a book like that before. Thanks so much for this discussion, it was really intriguing.
Thank you for the rambling. As another bilingual American living in Japan, this video was particularly interesting. I've had trouble dealing with language in my own images since moving here, something as simple as the pregnancy of meaning implied by foreign text, no matter how mundane or irrelevant. The decision of which language to merely consider a photograph in can be painfully divergent at times. Of course it adds to the fun as a consumer, but has a way of turning personal projects into an editing hell.
Hi Alec, I really want to thank you for the inspiring series you make on your book collection... And I can watch this particular one over again. I never knew the work of Masafumi Sanai (佐内正史) and I really like the way how it presents experiential moments in his life. It is combining the sense of a diary with a surprising and beautifully edited book.
Any way you'd record and sell those lectures on your website ? I'd buy in a heartbeat :) (I'd attend in person, but I'm in France so right now it's not exactly easy ^^)
Alec, my original vocation was poetics. A student of Ginsberg who introduced me to Robert Frank. PROVOKE and specifically Farewell Photography as well as For A Language to Come by Nakahira (also PROVOKE). When I spoke to Daido in Japan my conversation with him was his relationship to the Beats... then also Klein, as well as Kerouac and his own direct relationship (as studio assistant) to Shomei Tomatsu. You are onto something... also, I’ve also sat with Eggleston. We went over CHROMES together page by page. Bill asked me, “how do you feel about this photo?” I went over composition etc and he SLAMMED his hand on the book and said, “no, how does it make you FEEL.” This... from my poetics background is also the difference between poetry and prose, non-narrative and narrative. Also, the use of Google Translate is called Glossalalia. It is also a aleatory tradition from poetics. I have often taught, contemporary photography is closer to poetics than photography. My thoughts.
Great video, I enjoy so much your videos!!! In the topic of the video I don't know if you know "citizens in society" by Jun Abe. I know you may think, yeah there is so many examples... but this is, in my opinion, a significant wordless example. Keep making great videos and photos!!!
I really appreciate the books presented here; most i am unfamiliar with and grateful for your presentation/exposure. I, for one, like the candid, not overly polished look of your two camera video presentation; the zooming lens, and the pic of you in the corner. Though i too miss seeing a bit more of your surround. Expanding to full screen on a desktop shows more than enough of the chosen subject matter, and once i see that another video is available, i will only watch it on my larger screen. I will be a paying subscriber once the details are made known.
There's a wonderful intimacy in the way you share your thoughts and present the books. It re-invigorates my love of photography and respect for your work too. Thank you Alec
With all the drivel that camera companies are sponsoring on UA-cam, I can’t fathom what company wouldn’t want to do business w a Magnum photographer, let alone Alec Soth. What times are we living in? Maybe you need to start the video w “what’s up guys!” And then GoPro yourself taking monotonous street photography that all looks redundant. I know Fujifilm guys are big fans, you should reach out to them. Or, start a Patreon. I’d rather pay you than Netflix.
@@AlecSothUA-cam I worked for a camera company's PR departement and all that mattered was sadly the number of followers a 'photographer' could boast. It's a popularity contest, nothing else.
I too would happily support these invaluable lectures - and your work more generally - via Patreon, Alec. Simply stunning and perverse that a camera manufacturer said no.
Alec I'm a huge fan of your work and as a student of the craft I am so grateful for your insights and also the time and effort you put in into producing these gems. Thank you!
Thank you, Alec. Every one of these videos is deepening my curiosity about this topic. And I glean so much from your discussion. Today, I appreciated hearing your views about facing-page pairings. Again, thank you.
Glad you talk of Carl Johan De Geer. He is renaissance figure. A visual art wizard, musician, author. You name it. Designer of tapestry and wallpapers. Film maker. This nobleman, he is a baron, has investigated his own origins in books and exhibitions. How his family earned money and titles 17th century through slave trade. How his German grandmother actually was a nazi.
I've been really enjoying your "Pictures & Words" series, and it's actually prompted me to think more broadly about the notion of pictures and words which could, in fact, be a description of your channel ;) I was also thinking of a phenomenon which pervades contemporary art in general wherein one often spends more time reading the wall text than looking at the work. I realize that the whole point of these lectures is to talk about photographs and to pair words with images in a way that deepens our appreciation and understanding of them. But I'd be curous to hear your thoughts about what seems to be the viewers inability to be satisfied with the image alone and to demand or desire words to provide context. Does that produce any anxiety in you as a photographer, knowing that medium in which you work may in fact not be able to stand on its own in the way that other mediums do -- say for example the film or the novel.
FYI: Thankfully 'Provoke' was reprinted last year..though the originals are still the real treasures by collectors.. it was necessary for newer generations.
Thank you for your most interesting videos. I struggle to 'translate' photographs. Maybe I'm just too literal, it's like trying to catch a ball with your hands behind your back. If ever there was a need for a lecture (or several) it would be on how to understand and read photography. I have so many "oh, yes, now I see" moments when I listen to your reading of the pictures. In relation to the language and Japanese books, are you familiar with the book " For a language to come" by Takuma Nakahira? I love the book but wished I had the ability to interpret the work.
Love the new format, getting there with the setup. Thanks for sharing all this, it has been a long time since I discovered something that subtle. The sponsors will come no doubt about that. Last question, a little superficial maybe, but since I am a hat lover, could you name the one you are wearing on this video? Again, thanks.
True comment: the circles and lines spreads are very matchy matchy. What is the remedy in such situations? One image per spread with left page white? Keep only one of the two matched images per book? Redesign the layout more generally to include both but not with the obvious matches? I pose the question because I think it gets to the foundations of a basic approach to layout and flow.
wow. these lectures are just so good Alec, I am so grateful for them. I am an artist who has just started exploring photography as a medium and your interviews and lectures have been the greatest resource for me so far, thank you. I think I am going to invest in your magnum course. I would become a patron if you started a patreon account fyi. which is a first for me.
Oh man that Moriyama book is $1000 - $3000 now! You’re lucky to have a copy. Love these videos. Maybe you could discuss quotes and poems paired with photos like “The Family Of Man” which was also a MoMA exhibit.
Alec, enjoy watching UA-cam. Can I ask you a favor? I want you to activate the automatic translation function provided by UA-cam. I am Asian. I am not good at English. It's much better to have an automatic translator.
Hi, isn't it supposed to automatically activate? I looked into it and found this: Troubleshoot automatic captions issues If your video doesn't generate automatic captions, it could be due to one or more of the following reasons: The captions aren't available yet due to processing complex audio in the video. Automatic captions don't support the language in the video. The video is too long. The video has poor sound quality or UA-cam doesn't recognize the speech. There’s a long period of silence at the beginning of the video. There are multiple speakers whose speech overlaps.
You might find this interesting: The Pencil of Nature by Fox Talbot Henry who talks a lot about words and pictures and how they differently talk about the world.
Ah, the joys of Google Translate and the word salad it often churns out. In my experience (as a speaker of English and Greek), the more culturally specific a text, the more Google struggles to turn it into something comprehensible. A metaphor for photography in general?
Interpreting/describing an image using words is really « reading » the image. It's even more obvious when describing an image to someone else. Both an images and the text can be puzzles to decipher/read in a multitude of ways [based on experience and knowledge {art historian}] Words, particularly in titles, may restrict the interpretation and confine the meaning of the images [and vice-versa]. An image and text may be in harmony with/opposition or completely unrelate or documentary. Elegaic/prosaic. Poetry. ¿Above all, how does it make me feel?
@@AlecSothUA-cam Well, you can always put black tape over the logo then...LOL. On a more important note, thanks for doing these videos, I'm really enjoying them.
Drinking coffee while listening to Alec Soth talk softly about photography might be the most pleasant thing on earth.
Listening before sleeping!;)
“When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.”
- Robert Frank
Probably the best quote on photography i've ever heard, thanks
The text 6 “boxes of 7 stars” is the last picture of the book: 6 boxes of 7 Star Cigarettes.
These lectures always make my day better
Alec, your channel and these episodes are the perfect Antidote to the current youtube photography channel status quo. It’s exactly what this platform needs more of. Keep it up.
There isn’t a single channel close to this, educationally, academically or through sheer good taste
What comfortable and interesting talks! Thank you.
Alec thank you for your brutal honesty about being declined sponsorship from that camera company! Artists get rejected a lot, and it helps soften the blow a bit knowing that still happens for you too.
It's baffling, they'd rather support witless youtube review channels with free gear rather than actual artists.
Thanks so much. I'm enthralled by the beauty of the mistranslation, "I was driving on the highway. There was a forehead made of old wood in the passenger seat and it was full of water droplets. I knew something was strange, but I decided to touch it. After all, it was a swim ring."
Me too!
Thanks Alec, it's very generous of you to share library, your knowledge and your perspective with us!
yes. lots of gratitude Alec
Ok, so I've been sitting here smiling since sec 1. Thank you for the journey.
Nice to hear. Thanks Andrea.
I am enjoying these vlogs so much. Please keep them coming. The rambling is the best part.
Amazing video Alec! Just realized that on the back of the japanese „Mark II“- book are six cigarette boxes called „seven stars“ which fits your google translation.
Ah, excellent! Thanks Julien.
I had never considered the square format to be circular. Very interesting. Thank you.
There's all sorts of fascinating stuff here about the layers of experience (personal, generational, cultural) that colour the reading of an image (and everything else). I'm working on a project that's made of pictures of a specific type of British suburbia. It reminds me of visiting relatives in the '70s. It speaks to me of light, and modernity, and fun. Other people may see it as hideous bad taste. Or just somewhere boring elderly relatives live now. I've no idea what a Japanese person would make of it. Great video full of insight. Thanks.
Kissa is pronounced Ki-ssa with a small pause between the “i” and “s”. Kissa is a shortened word for kissaten (喫茶店), literally a "tea-drinking shop". It is a Japanese-style tearoom that is also a coffee shop.
Thx!
sweet voice, very interesting random talk (I love random, it's my way of life), searching for organizing my photos and my texts and finding ideas, thank you for sharing your library... C. from Fontainebleau near Paris, France
Simply a big Thank You for making these precious talks available to all.
Really enjoyed this one Alec. Thanks
Right on, so happy you included Rinko Kawauchi. ¡Wicked insight, love it!
Totally captivating talk. It made me think of conversations with bilingual/multilingual friends who have brought up that when speaking a different language they become quite a different person. One reason for this may be that 'equivalent' words in different languages may not have the same meaning or communicate the same feeling. It also made me think of Orwell's Newspeak concept that without the language to articulate an idea, the idea itself ceases to exist. And all of these thoughts arising from discussion from some stunning books- Kawauchi's work was visceral, I have never seen a book like that before. Thanks so much for this discussion, it was really intriguing.
Thanks for doing these videos!
What I love most about your discussions, Alec, is your extraordinarily acute observations about photographic subjectivity. Very inspiring.
Thank you for the rambling. As another bilingual American living in Japan, this video was particularly interesting.
I've had trouble dealing with language in my own images since moving here, something as simple as the pregnancy of meaning implied by foreign text, no matter how mundane or irrelevant.
The decision of which language to merely consider a photograph in can be painfully divergent at times. Of course it adds to the fun as a consumer, but has a way of turning personal projects into an editing hell.
I can imagine. At least there's one advantage to being an under-educated American :)
so inspiring. thank you!
Hi Alec, I really want to thank you for the inspiring series you make on your book collection... And I can watch this particular one over again. I never knew the work of Masafumi Sanai
(佐内正史) and I really like the way how it presents experiential moments in his life. It is combining the sense of a diary with a surprising and beautifully edited book.
I really enjoyed watching this vlog. It's a great way to discover new photographers and their work. Nicely linked together by your thoughts.
Your voice ❤️ It's a pure pleasure for my ears to listen to IT.
Any way you'd record and sell those lectures on your website ? I'd buy in a heartbeat :)
(I'd attend in person, but I'm in France so right now it's not exactly easy ^^)
Alec, my original vocation was poetics. A student of Ginsberg who introduced me to Robert Frank. PROVOKE and specifically Farewell Photography as well as For A Language to Come by Nakahira (also PROVOKE). When I spoke to Daido in Japan my conversation with him was his relationship to the Beats... then also Klein, as well as Kerouac and his own direct relationship (as studio assistant) to Shomei Tomatsu. You are onto something... also, I’ve also sat with Eggleston. We went over CHROMES together page by page. Bill asked me, “how do you feel about this photo?” I went over composition etc and he SLAMMED his hand on the book and said, “no, how does it make you FEEL.” This... from my poetics background is also the difference between poetry and prose, non-narrative and narrative.
Also, the use of Google Translate is called Glossalalia. It is also a aleatory tradition from poetics.
I have often taught, contemporary photography is closer to poetics than photography. My thoughts.
Gracias Alec! Another great talk.
Hearing the thoughts about photography from a one of my favorite photographers of all time is amazing, I love that this is on UA-cam.
I got an ASMR channel advert during this, I think youtube is trying to tell Alec to start one
Love you, Alec! Something very specific in this talk has inspired me!
thanks for the insights and great lecture! Very inspirational
Just discovered your UA-cam channel. Enjoyed this video very much. Also I highly recommend going to Japan, to shoot or just purely visit.
Absolutely loving your “rambling,” profoundly insightful lectures, Alec. Thanks so much for sharing them with us!!
quite interesting, ive really been trying to photograph with a child’s view of the world, so it was nice to see Rinko Kawauchi’s work. Thanks Alec :)
Love the breadth of your resources and your wonderful content!!
Thank you. I'm enjoying your series.
please keep doing these videos, i'm very interested in.
Cheers
Great video, I enjoy so much your videos!!! In the topic of the video I don't know if you know "citizens in society" by Jun Abe. I know you may think, yeah there is so many examples... but this is, in my opinion, a significant wordless example. Keep making great videos and photos!!!
Great suggestion, thank you
I love your photography! And these talks/ramblings of yours are just wonderful. Very intriguing and calming at the same time.
Enjoyed it a lot 🙏
Great video! Thank you!
Love these, please keep doing them. BTW, the 7 stars boxes are cigarette boxes which are pictured on the back of the Sanai book.
Thanks
Thank you for this
I really appreciate the books presented here; most i am unfamiliar with and grateful for your presentation/exposure.
I, for one, like the candid, not overly polished look of your two camera video presentation; the zooming lens, and the pic of you in the corner. Though i too miss seeing a bit more of your surround. Expanding to full screen on a desktop shows more than enough of the chosen subject matter, and once i see that another video is available, i will only watch it on my larger screen. I will be a paying subscriber once the details are made known.
There's a wonderful intimacy in the way you share your thoughts and present the books. It re-invigorates my love of photography and respect for your work too. Thank you Alec
once again a fantastic episode, many thanks
Masahisa Fukase's "Ravens" and "Sentimental Journey"
by Nobuyoshi Araki deserve a special mention from the comment section..
so valuable Alec!
With all the drivel that camera companies are sponsoring on UA-cam, I can’t fathom what company wouldn’t want to do business w a Magnum photographer, let alone Alec Soth.
What times are we living in?
Maybe you need to start the video w “what’s up guys!” And then GoPro yourself taking monotonous street photography that all looks redundant.
I know Fujifilm guys are big fans, you should reach out to them.
Or, start a Patreon. I’d rather pay you than Netflix.
Thanks Jimmy
@@AlecSothUA-cam I worked for a camera company's PR departement and all that mattered was sadly the number of followers a 'photographer' could boast. It's a popularity contest, nothing else.
@@AlecSothUA-cam yes, I would gladly support your videos via patreon as well!
I too would happily support these invaluable lectures - and your work more generally - via Patreon, Alec. Simply stunning and perverse that a camera manufacturer said no.
Grateful for so many videos about such an important subject
Thank you Mister Alec
i like the treatment on these images, very good book, very nice
As always great talk!! thanks so much
Alec I'm a huge fan of your work and as a student of the craft I am so grateful for your insights and also the time and effort you put in into producing these gems. Thank you!
Thank you Alec
Thank you, Alec. Every one of these videos is deepening my curiosity about this topic. And I glean so much from your discussion. Today, I appreciated hearing your views about facing-page pairings. Again, thank you.
Another thoroughly enjoyable talk! I’d love to see an episode (are these episodes?) on Daido Moriyama, if you are so inclined.
I'm enjoying the content and pace of these videos, keep them coming Alec.
Thank you for your videos. They really inspire me.
cada día más interesante, realmente inspirador....
These are wonderful in every way, Alec. You're doing incredibly well! Keep it up :-)
Glad you talk of Carl Johan De Geer. He is renaissance figure. A visual art wizard, musician, author. You name it. Designer of tapestry and wallpapers. Film maker. This nobleman, he is a baron, has investigated his own origins in books and exhibitions. How his family earned money and titles 17th century through slave trade. How his German grandmother actually was a nazi.
Fascinating. Thanks Sigfrid.
I enjoy these so much! Thank you for all the effort.
Brilliant interpretation
This series is great food for hungry photographers
as always super interesting
This gentleman’s book collection is worth more than an average house.
I've been really enjoying your "Pictures & Words" series, and it's actually prompted me to think more broadly about the notion of pictures and words which could, in fact, be a description of your channel ;) I was also thinking of a phenomenon which pervades contemporary art in general wherein one often spends more time reading the wall text than looking at the work. I realize that the whole point of these lectures is to talk about photographs and to pair words with images in a way that deepens our appreciation and understanding of them. But I'd be curous to hear your thoughts about what seems to be the viewers inability to be satisfied with the image alone and to demand or desire words to provide context. Does that produce any anxiety in you as a photographer, knowing that medium in which you work may in fact not be able to stand on its own in the way that other mediums do -- say for example the film or the novel.
FYI: Thankfully 'Provoke' was reprinted last year..though the originals are still the real treasures by collectors.. it was necessary for newer generations.
Thank you for your most interesting videos. I struggle to 'translate' photographs. Maybe I'm just too literal, it's like trying to catch a ball with your hands behind your back. If ever there was a need for a lecture (or several) it would be on how to understand and read photography. I have so many "oh, yes, now I see" moments when I listen to your reading of the pictures. In relation to the language and Japanese books, are you familiar with the book " For a language to come" by Takuma Nakahira? I love the book but wished I had the ability to interpret the work.
Yes, considered For A Language To Come, but only so much time :)
Love the new format, getting there with the setup. Thanks for sharing all this, it has been a long time since I discovered something that subtle. The sponsors will come no doubt about that. Last question, a little superficial maybe, but since I am a hat lover, could you name the one you are wearing on this video? Again, thanks.
Ha, thanks. I don't know, just something I bought in the Amsterdam airport years ago :)
dang this was so good. thank you
True comment: the circles and lines spreads are very matchy matchy. What is the remedy in such situations? One image per spread with left page white? Keep only one of the two matched images per book? Redesign the layout more generally to include both but not with the obvious matches? I pose the question because I think it gets to the foundations of a basic approach to layout and flow.
Haha, seven stars is the brand of the cigarette on the last picture. 😂
wow. these lectures are just so good Alec, I am so grateful for them. I am an artist who has just started exploring photography as a medium and your interviews and lectures have been the greatest resource for me so far, thank you. I think I am going to invest in your magnum course. I would become a patron if you started a patreon account fyi. which is a first for me.
Oh man that Moriyama book is $1000 - $3000 now! You’re lucky to have a copy.
Love these videos.
Maybe you could discuss quotes and poems paired with photos like “The Family Of Man” which was also a MoMA exhibit.
Mine is a facsimile edition :)
¡Maravilloso!
Hey Alec, I'd really like you to talk about the subject of photography in philosophy!
That book is sooo good.
Thank you
Which and Why and how on earth would any camera company decline Alec Soth's sponsorship request???
Hey! Just a thought on sponsorship: maybe a bookstore/photobook store would be more inclined to sponsor your channel.
Alec, enjoy watching UA-cam. Can I ask you a favor? I want you to activate the automatic translation function provided by UA-cam. I am Asian. I am not good at English. It's much better to have an automatic translator.
Hi, isn't it supposed to automatically activate? I looked into it and found this:
Troubleshoot automatic captions issues
If your video doesn't generate automatic captions, it could be due to one or more of the following reasons:
The captions aren't available yet due to processing complex audio in the video.
Automatic captions don't support the language in the video.
The video is too long.
The video has poor sound quality or UA-cam doesn't recognize the speech.
There’s a long period of silence at the beginning of the video.
There are multiple speakers whose speech overlaps.
As far as I know, the speech recognition takes a while until the subtitles are provided.
You might find this interesting: The Pencil of Nature by Fox Talbot Henry who talks a lot about words and pictures and how they differently talk about the world.
Thanks. Project Gutenberg has it here: www.gutenberg.org/files/33447/33447-h/33447-h.html#toc4
Can you post the titles of the books? Thanks for this series.
Yes, it is under the video.
Ah, the joys of Google Translate and the word salad it often churns out. In my experience (as a speaker of English and Greek), the more culturally specific a text, the more Google struggles to turn it into something comprehensible. A metaphor for photography in general?
Finally 😍
eyyyyyy go craig
more more more
Interpreting/describing an image using words is really « reading » the image. It's even more obvious when describing an image to someone else. Both an images and the text can be puzzles to decipher/read in a multitude of ways [based on experience and knowledge {art historian}] Words, particularly in titles, may restrict the interpretation and confine the meaning of the images [and vice-versa]. An image and text may be in harmony with/opposition or completely unrelate or documentary. Elegaic/prosaic. Poetry. ¿Above all, how does it make me feel?
Why don't you try crowdfunding to sponsor your videos ? Sure you'd be surprised ! Cheers from France
Thanks, I'm considering different options.
@@AlecSothUA-cam patreon might be an option too if you haven’t considered it!
I would like to personally boycott the camera company that refused to sponsor your channel
Ha, I just bought their camera. Sigh.
@@AlecSothUA-cam Well, you can always put black tape over the logo then...LOL. On a more important note, thanks for doing these videos, I'm really enjoying them.
What about rich and poor?
hey thanks for lowering that mic a bit, we can now see your PUNIM! But, as someone else said: you're too small !!!!
Some people have suggested I turn of the camera on my face altogether. I thought this was a compromise :)
what stupid camera company would reject alec soth @_@
Who declined Alec Soth?? wow.. :|