Alec Soth is a photographer of the studied mundane, a Minnesotan inspired by folks like Robert Frank or William Eggleston, whose images create a sense of overlooked place. When he and his wife went to Bogota, Colombia to pick up their adopted newborn daughter, court processing delays took two months, time Soth used to explore and take pictures.
His inspiration was the book of poems, letters, and photos his daughter's birth mother gave them: "I hope that the hardness of the world will not hurt your sensitivity."
Soth's own photos for his daughter are a mix of the hardness and beauty--and the dogs and the people--of her home city have now been published as a book, Dog Days, Bogota. Some of the photos were exhibited at Galerie Wohnmaschine in Berlin [actually, the show closes today; so you still have a couple of hours. Schnell! Schnell!]
Buy Dog Days, Bogota: The Book at Amazon [amazon]
Dog Days Bogota, 16 May - 28 June, Galerie Wohnmaschine [wohnmaschine.de via artforum]
See a nice selection of Dog Days, Bogota images at Soth's site [alecsoth.com]
