[WALLFLOWER CATALOGUE] FILE 007. Alec Soth “GATHERED LEAVES ANNOTATED”
Shutter speed = paper thickness poetry
Alec Soth's large-scale exhibition held at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art in 2022 is also well-known.
This is a newly compiled collection of photo books from five journeys, or five projects, from "SLEEPING BY THE MISSISSIPPI" in 2004 to "A POUND OF PICTURES" in 2022.
I really like this book as an object. It's simply cool, so as a fangirl, I'm happy just to have it. But because the concept is clear and the design is necessary, the coolness of it makes me sit up straight.
The cover is a map, with pins marking the locations where the photographs were taken. It is designed to be unfolded to become a large poster. The act of unfolding the map gives you an overview of the five photo books, and allows you to think about the time Soth has traveled, the people and landscapes captured in the photos, and the various stories behind them.
When you turn the pages, you find what the model said during the interview, shooting notes, related photos, and follow-up stories (such as when the person died after the shoot), and the content is very rich. However, it is printed on extremely thin paper, so the lightness and thinness contrary to the volume catches your fingers as you turn the pages. There is a physical contrast between 20 years of time and a shutter speed of less than one second.
There may be other reasons why this paper was chosen, but I always think it would be great to create a design that makes people think ``!'' like this.
Looking at a map is exciting.
A new journey. Places to visit, unfamiliar lands, images evoked by place names. And the slight sentimentality that remains after the journey. The people and scenery that pass by in each moment of life.
I wonder what trail of pins will be on my travel map in 20 years' time?
＿
|
Text and photos: fumika arasawa
designer
|
