Alec Soth

I suppose I should really explore the man behind the camera as well as the man in front of it!

Alec Soth is an American photographer, born in 1969 in Minnesota, he is also a member of Magnum Photos and owns his own media company called Little Brown Mushroom.  His style of photography has been likened to Walker Evans and Robert Frank and encompasses a number of genre such as Landscape, Documentary, Still life and Portrait.

He still lives in Minnesota, returning after he finished his studies in New York, and mainly focuses on large-scale work such as ‘Sleeping by the Mississippi’ and ‘Niagara’.

He works with an 8 x 10 inch camera mounted on a tripod, each image is costly so he considers his frame well before taking the image. In an article by Aaron Schuman for Aperture (Accessed 09.03.18), seen here:

https://aperture.org/blog/revisiting-alec-soths-masterwork/

Soth mentions how he would move things around and play with the space often over filling it. I was a little disappointed that the images were not by chance however deep down I knew that the scene for Patrick, Palm Sunday was well orchestrated to include the clues which enables the story to unfold.

In the book ‘Magnum contact sheets’ by Thames & Hudson it shows one of the images that Soth took for ‘Sleeping by the Mississippi’ entitled ‘Mother and Daughter’. Soth cannot explain exactly what leads him to choose one image over another except that ‘it just felt right’, looking at the images shown I think I would have chosen the same image. The mix of softness in their entwined legs contrasts with their body positioning and the harsh reality of their employment.

Interestingly Wikipedia states thart had listed the images he was looking for, This reminds me of Dorothea Lange who supposedly did something similar when she happened upon the ‘Migrant Mother’ :

‘When he was on the road, he’d have notes describing types of pictures he wanted taped to the steering wheel of his car.^[2] One list was: “beards, birdwatchers, mushroom hunters, men’s retreats, after the rain, figures from behind, suitcases, tall people (especially skinny), targets, tents, tree houses and tree lines

 

 

The Church

Following on from my google street search, I explored the church I found as I panned around. Could this have been Patrick’s church?

St Paul the Apostle Catholic Church – http://stpaulbr.org/ (Accessed 02.03.18)

However under the history tab the website states:

‘In the 1950’s many African-American Catholics (living in small, rural civil parishes in Southern Louisiana) moved to the North Baton Rouge area primarily because of industrial and educational opportunities.  The Black community in this area worshipped at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  However, many did not feel encouraged, and their identity within the church parish was not supported because of cultural differences and attitudes.

In response to the needs of the black community, Archbishop Joseph Rummel, D.D., of New Orleans, Louisiana formed St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church.

So perhaps this is not Patrick’s church, perhaps it was The Scared Heart Catholic Church?

http://sacredheartbr.org/legacy-of-pastors/ (Accessed 02.03.18)

There is not much history on this site but I looked at the previous Pasters and in 2002 the pastor would have been Reverend Donald Blanchard. A google search of Rev. Donald Blanchard brings up lots of results however a google search of Rev. Donald Blanchard ‘and’ Patrick brings up an obitury for Rosa Cancienne. It mentions her husband Patrick and that the Rev. carried out the service so not much of a match really. This Patrick was a sugar cane farmer… could I see ‘my’ Patrick as a sugar cane farmer and member of various boards??

I think my ‘dog with a bone’ search for Patrick is going to be a fruitless search albeit slightly amusing.

 

 

Wisteria/ Lilac

In the image we see lilac or wisteria framing the top third of the image. Wisteria always makes me think of the picture perfect american dream. Beautiful house with a large lawn and picket fence. I decided to explore the actual symbolism behind lilac / wisteria.

Lilac:

According to this website (Accessed 02.03.18) http://www.flowermeaning.com/lilac-flower-meaning/ the colour of the lilac flowers have significance:

• White: That purity and innocence thought to be part of childhood.
• Violet: All shades of purple tend to reflect spirituality, but darker purple reflects that the wearer is concerned or knows about spiritual mysteries.
• Blue: Pastel shades symbolize a baby boy, but soft blue can also mean happiness and tranquility. Many hospital or therapist rooms are a soft shade of blue.
• Lilac: This lighter shade of purple is associated with one’s first love or the first time one feels love for someone.
• Pink: Not just for little girls, pink is also associated with love and strong friendships.
• Magenta: This shade of dark red is associated with passion, love and the sheer thrill of being alive, especially after surviving a harrowing experience.
• Purple: Because lighter shades of purple are associated with first loves, purple is often an alternative to black for mourning or for remembering somber anniversaries.

The flowers in the image look to be purple or violet so the significance actually does add another dimension to the image. It associates with spirituality and remembering somber anniversaries, considering this was the anniversary of Palm Sunday it is extremely apt.

Wisteria:

According to the same website wisteria (Which I think is more likely what the plant in the image is, can range from a roadside weed to massive trees.

Wisteria symbolises

• Good luck, especially for the start of a business or a new marriage
• Welcoming someone to a new town or home
• Celebrating the youthful vitality of a young friend or child
• Expressing your affections after meeting someone special for the first time
• Serious devotion, whether it’s to a cause or another person
• New births and spring birthdays

Wisteria is associated with March and April because it blooms during those months. This makes this much more likely to be the flower in the image as it is blooming on March 25th. Since the vines and trees bloom in spring and early summer, it’s a potent symbol of new life which adds new depth when placed in contrast to what appears to be a storm damaged scene. The website also adds that the wisteria vine is a legume that actually improves the soil around it. However, it can also pull down trees and damage houses if it grows out of control…another alternative story option?

The Wisteria flower’s message is let good luck make your adventures go a little smoother. Celebrate the new beginnings in life instead of focusing on the endings.

Both Lilac or Wisteria add another layer to the image and the spot for the photo may well have been well-considered, both plants meanings are apt. I feel that the actual plant in the image is in fact wisteria as the flowers are more pea shaped.

 

 

Pope John Paul II Homily

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20020324_palm-sunday.html

In my searches around Palm Sunday and 2002 I cam across the homily given Pope John Paul II on Sunday 24th of March 2002, the day of the photo.

There are a few lines (I have marked in bold) that make me think of Patrick…

The Passion narrative points out the fidelity of Christ, contrasted with human infidelity. In the hour of his trial, while the disciples and even Peter abandon Jesus (cf. Mt 26,56),He remains faithful, willing to pour out his blood to bring to fulfilment the mission the Father has entrusted to him. Beside him is Mary, silent and suffering.

Only if you are ready to do this, will you become what Jesus expects of you, that is, “the salt of the earth“ and “the light of the world” (Mt 5,13-14).

Dear young people! Learn from Jesus and from his and our Mother. The real strength of a man lies in the fidelity of his witness to the truth and in his resisting flattery, threats, misunderstandings, blackmail, even harsh and relentless persecution. This is the path on which our Redeemer calls us to follow him.

St Paul has reminded us that Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2,7) to obtain for us the grace of divine sonship. From him springs the true spring of peace and joy for each one of us! Here is the secret of the Easter joy that is born from the hardship of the Passion.

The Church assures you that you will not be disillusioned. Indeed, no one else other than he can give you that love, peace, and eternal life for which your heart so deeply yearns. Blessed are you young people if you will be faithful disciples of Christ! Blessed are you who are ready to witness on every occasion that this man is truly the Son of God (cf. Mt 27,39).

Palm Sunday

The image is entitled ‘ Patrick, Palm Sunday’ so therefore I should explore the significance of Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday is the last Sunday of Lent, the following Sunday being Easter Sunday and is the beginning of Holy Week, which commemorates the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, before he was crucified.

In the Gospels, Jesus arrived into Jerusalem riding a donkey, and the townspeople threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him to lay a path. This was a customary practice for people to show great respect.

Palm branches are  recognised as a symbol of peace and victory, hence their  use on Palm Sunday. The  donkey instead of a horse is also symbolic, it represents the arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war.

During Palm Sunday Mass, palms are distributed to parishioners who carry them in a ritual procession into church. The palms are blessed and many people will fold them into small crosses or other items . These may be returned to the church, or kept for the year.

Because the palms are blessed, they may not be discarded as trash. Instead, they are appropriately gathered at the church and incinerated to create the ashes that will be used in the follow year’s Ash Wednesday mass.

The colours used during the Mass on Palm Sunday are red and white, which symbolises the blood that Christ gave for the world.

According to Wikipedia the Palm which Patrick is holding ‘is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. … Since a victory signals an end to a conflict or competition, the palm developed into a symbol of peace, a meaning it can have in Islam, where it is often associated with Paradise’

Interestingly the symbol of the palm in Islam is of paradise, Soth is showing us an alternative outlook to paradise , a failed paradise, the unrealised ‘American Dream’.

Mississippi Storms

Patrick, Palm Sunday, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

In my copy of Alec Soth’s Sleeping by the Mississippi the image has no date attached and I initially assumed that the devastation in the image alluded to Hurricane Katrina. However given that the book was originally produced in 2004 this cannot be the case as Hurricane Katrina took place in  2005.

On the Beetles and Huxley Website the image is dated as 2002,  http://www.huxleyparlour.com/gallery/documentary/patrick-palm-sunday-baton-rouge-la-2002.html, Accessed 25.02.18.

So now I am looking at the storms of 2002 yet the storm season usually starts around June and this image is entitled Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday in 2002 was on the 24th of March which leads me to consider that this could be the remains of the previous years storms?

Tropical Storm Allison would have been the most likely storm in 2001 however the devastation in the image appears too new. There is still sandy sediment on the ground which has not yet been blown away.

A few google searches on weather in Louisiana throws us a different line of enquiry, according to the internet Easter Weekend is a popular time for tornado’s. This led me here…

The Tornado History Project: http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/20020320.22.1

If I search March 2002 Louisiana there are just two tornadoes, one on March 31st which would have been after the picture was taken and one on March 20th, just 4 days before this image.

The Tornado that struck on March 20th around mid-day in St James Parish appears to have caused no damage, and merely touched down yet it fits with the dates around this image. St James Parish does however sit on the bank of the Mississippi, it is a strong republican area.

latitude 30 longitude 90.72

More about St James Parish can be found on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._James_Parish,_Louisiana

However St James Parish is 42 Miles from Baton Rouge where this image of Patrick was supposedly taken. But if I enter the co-ordinates given on the tornado history project it actually takes me to an area just outside of Baton Rouge.

The only quandary over this tornado is that it supposedly only caused $0.04 of damage, however this website did not get their co-ordinates and map to tally correctly so this tornado is still an option.

If I drop my little google man and search the area there are indeed a number of wooden buildings and some trailer style structures although I must bear in mind that Hurricane Katrina would later devastate the area so much of what we see in Alec Soth’s image may no longer exist, it was also taken 16 years ago!

The closet scenes I could find in the area were:

Interestly as I pan around there is a church, relatively new looking, but could this be a rebuilt of the church that Patrick might has attended in the wake of a tornado?

The following article also mentions a thunderstorm with twister 8 days before Palm Sunday:

http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=1046

 However the path of this twister is even further away from Baton Rouge.

Could this then not be a storm ravaged scene but perhaps a construction site? Maybe the trailer homes are simply being torn down to make way for new housing?

Assignment Four Planning

I decided some tome ago that I wanted to choose an Alec Soth image for this assignment. I had visited Beetles & Huxley in September 2017 just as I was starting Context & Narrative to see the Alec Soth’s Exhibition ‘Sleeping by the Mississippi’ . The exhibition coincided with the launch of a new edition book following Soth’s previous ‘Sleeping by the Mississippi ‘ book published in 2004.

There were a number of images at this exhibition that appealed to me but one in particular intrigued me the most…”Patrick Palm Sunday”.

I have a copy of Alec Soth’s new edition ‘Sleeping by the Mississippi which I will refer to. I will also look into the history of the area from when this image was taken and Alec Soth’s career at this time to see the influences this may have had on the image.