1) Alec Soth uses an 8x10 camera. He employs color negative film and always uses a tripod. In the selected images, he has used a horizontal frame. He ratio of top length to side length is 5x4. He tends to print large, varying anywhere between 16x20 and 40x50.
2) The pictures above are from a project entitled NIAGRA. Niagra Falls is a hotbed of the shotgun wedding industry, second only to VEGAS! On the top, we see a mixed race couple, willingly nude for the photographer, seated comfortably, if a little lovingly, next to a Television. They appear to be in a motel and I wonder how this image might be compared to our culture's image of love and the big, ostentatious wedding? Next, these appear to be rentals. If the top picture is any indication, perhaps they are often used by newlyweds. Interestingly, each cabin is smaller than the last, perhaps suggesting a lack of equality in our American Dreaming. Lastly, the image of two swan folded towels in the shape of a heart suggest a desperate trying in the face of the reality that this is a less than romantic motel room.
3) As I have been influenced by the conception of love and romance propagated by Amercian Culture/Media, I have also succumbed to the reality that my version, my narrative of love and marriage may not follow suit. Soth does a good job of providing an alternative, perhaps even more honest version of Love and Marriage. Romance, afterall, is as individual as background, racial or geographical or socioeconomic, and Soth provides the alternative to the majority who can't squeeze their experience into popular conceptions.
