Mind The Gap

Alec Soth discusses the pivotal role that informational gaps play in our appreciation of photographs. Books discussed are:
Recollections Recreations by Hollis Frampton (1984)
The Night Albums by Kate Palmer Albers (2021)
Evidence by Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan (2007)
Japanese Photobooks of the 1960's and '70s (2009)
Chizu by Kikuji Kawada (2021)
Also discussed is Nostalgia, a film by Hollis Frampton (1971)
For more information about Kikuji Kawada and The Map (Chizu), watch this documentary: vimeo.com/408239704

[@BaronVonSminkleSmert]

Alec, keep on keeping on brother, Never stop, you're more to those who watch then you'll every have the capacity to understand.

[@gregholms3635]

This is what I always wished for in any number of grad seminars: real ideas and insights, unencumbered by academic blah-blah-blah, and motivated by a genuine (but not uncritical) love for the challenging experiences that photography and photobooks can create for us. You don't need to change a thing about these videos to keep this viewer happy.

[@peterpcarroll]

Simply the best photography-as-art information on this platform. Thanks, Alec.

[@NeillRobinson]

A new Alec Soth video! Christmas has come a little early :) Please keep this going Alec, these videos are like water in a desert!

[@mikeboudreaux2964]

This one was difficult to wrap my head around, but you did a good job explaining it in the end and it made sense after seeing the photos and hearing the final summary. Thanks for doing these, it's some of the best photo content on KZbin.

[@daretobeautiful]

I first saw an exhibition of your work several years ago in London. I wasn’t even into photography seriously then, but I was so moved by your photos. And then, almost a decade a later, I stumbled across this series and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you.

[@samuelberry4064]

I get so ridiculously hyped when these videos release. Thanks!

[@debelle85]

What interesting materials, thank you. While watching the documentary about The Map, I was struck by the parallel made between the stains and the charred skin of survivors. Couldn’t get that image out of my mind. It was so visceral that the recognizable images became skulls/bones, skin/scars. That is to say, I think Kawada transcended the gap more than successfully. It’s like the abstract imagery communicates more than a text probably could in this case, which was challenging to my representationally-oriented self. Much to think about.

[@zacharysensabaugh378]

This hit me at the right time. Thank you for making these videos.

[@jebtheghillie4512]

I've enjoyed every single one of these videos as they have been released, hope to see more! also very excited for the new book!

[@manuelbayogisbert9267]

It's honestly quite incredible that you gift these videos, they are outstanding. Thanks! :)

[@scottmcwilliams2378]

Thank you! In addition to considering the gap between photo and interference, Frampton’s reverse ordering raised the question for me about the extent we mentally construct images based upon the prior stories we jealously hold on to (nostalgia). So, the “actual” photo may be largely inconsequential as it's little more than a slave to the lifetime of inferences of the viewer. For sure, this is an interesting topic to ponder. Thanks again for another wonderful video. I just pre-ordered A Pound of Pictures and will enjoy experiencing it in the context of your teachings.

[@HeidiRaatz]

Another really interesting exploration. There's this "plunging down rabbit holes" quality to your videos which I enjoy, watching/listening as you travel from book to book, photographer to photographer, image to image. The evidence of the mind's journey tangible in your presentation of the material. Though sometimes this journey sets up its own gaps, as at ~10:40 when you introduce Albers' The Night Albums as a sort of bridge from Frampton to Sultan to Kawada and I was like ... "Wait, hold on a minute, can you go back to the Albers please?" as I'd like to know more about that book. But here is where my curiosity can branch off and plunge down various rabbit holes of my own. Thanks again Alec!

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Thanks Heidi. I highly recommend Albers' book!

[@frontstandard1488]

It is invaluable to hear erudite and experienced artists analyse and critique photography, and you do it with your own style and thought very succinctly. This helps my own self-critique greatly, and gain confidence when I feel poorly disposed towards my own work. Keep it coming.

[@CraigMod]

Incredible. Thank you for putting the work into these.

[@juliend4260]

Thanks for another great video Alec! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

[@maxmiechowski1465]

Thank you, Alec - really enjoyed this one!

[@BuzzBoxs]

I’m always taken back by how fantastic these videos are Alec, truly inspiring and always a pleasure to watch!

[@charlespowers7185]

Damn, this one blew my mind. You dig deep. Thank you for these videos, so good.

[@winetime69]

Thanks, Alec for another great episode. This was indeed very complex subject matter. While I think you did a masterful job in presenting it, I will admit that I will need to view it a couple more times before I can fully pick up what you were laying down. Have a great holiday!

[@gentlefoo]

just found your channel and oh man! you have gained yourself a new fan.

[@sydneyskatelife]

Thank you for another great video Alec

[@patriciocrooker]

Great!! Thanks for sharing all this books and your analysis.

[@MikeLennonProduction]

Super interesting & inspiring. Thank you, Alec!

[@JaneAlynnPhotography]

I love the challenge as well as inspiration that these videos offer. What always plays in the back of my mind is the parallel with metaphor and how it functions, asking the reader/viewer to hold two things in the mind at once. What was especially interesting in this video is the idea of the width of the gap and how it contributes to unity or to confusion. Thanks ever so much, Alec.

[@ismaelammanmiller4865]

So appreciative of the videos Alex. Please keep making them. Thank you!

[@kammm1203]

Thank you for sharing. The nostalgia project Hollis Frampton put up is so amazing and inspiring.

[@Ivanssoundcart]

Love these videos Alec, can’t wait to get my hands on the new book!

[@jonpadrnos3304]

Thank you! Your conversations mean so much!

[@johngskewes]

That was a great, short journey. Thank you for sharing and for expanding my understanding. Peace

[@lisaborgiani]

Thank you Alec! Very interesting

[@OliverDahl]

Really grateful for this videos, Alec--thank you. The work you shared in this one is not the kind I would normally seek out or enjoy, and if I were to flip through it on my own, I'm not sure I would get very much out of it. But the way you help bring the "gaps" closer made them absolutely fascinating, and so inspiring. Thank you!

[@ridovicsandras]

thanks for this Alec! really good.

[@sommelierofstench]

stumbled upon your channel and work recently. slowly going through your videos. thank you so much for your insight on photography and sharing knowledge/experience/insight and a peek into your collection.

[@anthonymorton3074]

thanks so much alec. Amazingly clear verbal language about visual language from the perspective of the maker. Rare

[@kristanakerman9244]

I just came across your channel, so interesting and so refreshing to see photography talked about in this depth, Thankyou.

[@BedaBuechi]

Thnx a lot for your suggestions and choices!

[@MrYerbaMate1]

I find these videos to be some of the most valuable content flashing on my screen. I cherish them. Thank you. I look forward to the new book.

[@frankv.9525]

These videos are real treasures, Alec. Been watching them religiously since you started putting them out. You've inspired me to pick up photography once again after being discouraged by all the terrible world events that have been happening. Thank you infinitely, you're a national treasure.

[@qosmidity]

your talks inspired me Alec . thank you so so much

[@DanieleServenti]

Thank you Alec for you're amazing work!! Not only the videos, but also your books and photographs. Keep going!!

[@lorenzocortese9500]

Alec, I am incredibly grateful for all your work that you have put out into the world. I have been a massive fan of yours since the pandemic and seeing some of your amazing photos on the your website website. I got the book The Parameters of Our Cage at the perfect moment of my life, and it opened me up to so many new ideas that I probably would be very different if I did not get it when I did. These videos have been super inspiring and eye opening in a similar way, and I hope you know how grateful people are for your presence. I hope you are doing well, and can't wait to see your new book!

[@owainshaw]

I remember watching Nostalgia (the full half hour or so) at Derby Photography festival years ago and it definitely took a little while to get my head around because there was no rewind button to go back to the first frame or two before I had figured out the offset between narration and image. For whatever reason it was one of those pieces that stuck with me. The others were all new to me, and I enjoyed your insight and analysis as always, Alec. Happy holidays to you.

[@bobrichman1322]

Love these videos. Extremely thought provoking and informative. This one brought memories of a class I took with Hollis Frampton at UB in the early seventies when I first saw his film. And then also the mention of Larry Poons who is a main character of a film I shot “The Price of Everything” about art and who decides what it’s worth. You might find it interesting.

[@koishes00]

Another great video. Preordered your new book and picked up a copy of Songbook while I was there! Thanks for the wisdom

[@soccerjockey]

such challenging and disturbing work. Thank you for sharing these books with us!

[@leoquesto9183]

Thank you, Alec. These videos are important for a number of reasons, including the fact that you're providing an extremely valuable, edifying example of the 'art life' for a lot of young artists, of remaining open to the world, information and experience. Thank you. And, btw: Hollis Frampton!! Have been interested in him for a long time, though it was through his films. They films were very hard to get copies of for a long time. HF:Yes!

[@philcrean]

Thanks again for such an insightful and thoughtful piece. It gives food for thought on exploring the gaps in my work and how different images can be put together to bridge those gaps! Merry Christmas and here's hoping 22 will be better.

[@randomsixty]

I’m appreciating these videos Alec. Not in a rush. Not too fast, not too long. Just enough to give the work and ideas time to breathe. Refreshing compared to Instagram and Twitter.

[@tomsmith8465]

great production Alec, much valued are your insights.

[@bolducrene1607]

Your videos are great . Captivating. Inspiring as always. Thank you for your generosity. It’s christmas!

[@mylesstauffer2981]

i love every single one of these videos

[@eddoesnt]

Brilliant video!! I’ve been in a rut with Instagram and my creative thoughts on photography. I feel a solution bubbling after watching this video!!

[@bartoszkakol6549]

I really appreciate your work, You teach us gratuitously and you make this lectures more interesting than people who are getting paid for that. I learned so much from your videos. I hope that some day I will make my own book. We love what you're doing for us.

[@kayacomeau3281]

I just watched your nowness photographer spotlight and found my way to your channel. I've never related to another photographer so much and it made me feel much less alone in a world that I am constantly trying to orient myself in. I fail a lot, and it's so rare to hear someone else admit the same thing, especially to a large audience. I deeply appreciate how raw you are as an artist and want thank you from the bottom of my heart for the videos you make, interviews you participate in and the works of art you release. I hope that your impact in the world grows more and more every day.

[@ovidiugordanvisualartist4425]

Thank you Alec, you are a photographic image philosopher. Photography must be a valuable tool in understanding life and the human condition.... the gap is almost always filled with more than what it is missing...

[@gahe56]

Great channel. Excellent content. Thank you so much - I know this takes a lot of thought and work as you are exploring some really tricky ideas and you did it so very well! Really ... much appreciated.

[@stuartbaines2843]

Another Powerful look into the World of Books. Thank for your Time explaining and asking questions which are rarely approached👌 A Happy Xmas and Healthy New year 🎄

[@jackspaeth7144]

Alec, thank you for these videos and your dedication to education in photography. I have been visiting and re-visiting your videos and lectures across KZbin as I've been working on a grant application. Thanks and happy holidays from Isle, Minnesota.

[@nathanwabre]

This is fantastic!

[@louhautdavid6451]

Another mindful video. Thanks for that. Obviously we need to fill the gaps. That's what we do at each moment, unconsciously building our perception. It's also a full time job to make sense of our lives, our relationships, filling gaps again. So it's probably worth exploring this phenomenon, just to see what it does and where it goes. It's also an opportunity to explore the limits of photography, the limits to its direct ability to communicate. Filling the gaps between the photographer and the viewers.

[@nicktauro3201]

Your videos are a great alternative to grad school, thank you.

[@4evertoblerone]

Very much appreaciated content. Thanks.

[@badgerag]

Hello Alec and thanks for making this though provoking video. It was a truly fascinating watch and got me musing on how the gap can be incorporated with more intent with my own work. Nostalgia was mind blowing and The Map even more so!

[@glennmcdonnell8375]

Always learning from you Alec.

[@TheCorruptedBunny]

So educational and inspiring. Thanks for sharing! 🤶

[@RompingBronco]

Watching this while I repair a KX, it's a perfect pairing in my opinion. Can't wait for the new book!

[@svenspetersen6675]

You are a spellbindingly good teacher.

[@ebatchelder1660]

Alec, thank you for yet another thought provoking and enriching teaching. The Frampton, in particular, made me think of two experimental modalities. One is the strobe effect. The other is a paradigm used in stereotyping studies where the participant is read (or given to read) a written description of a person and then shown a series of pictures and asked to pick the person who best fits the description they just read (or heard). In the Frampton paradigm, it would be fascinating to explore what type (if any) of interference the initial image is generating in the viewer's cognitive creation/representation of the second image as well as their perception of it AFTER they are presented with the second (described) image.

[@chopster01]

All your videos expand my thinking-though now and then they may expand a bit beyond my ability to think 🤣. I preordered your new book when it was first announced. Can’t wait till it’s released.

[@pessoasombra]

I am so grateful for these videos you create. This is what I have always wanted this platform to be for me, and as long as you create them, I will be watching them. More than educational, they are also deeply inspirational and have the ability to make me excited about creating, too, which is pretty much the only thing that I've found gives me any sense of purpose. I came from filmmaking and the cross between moving and still image interests me immensely, so I am especially grateful for this one. I hope to, one day, also create a piece of my own, partially after Frampton too.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Such kind words, thank you Sofia

[@trifin5772]

Thanks - my mind feels larger!

[@RR-bd4bm]

Must admit I didn't really care for these books. But the way you presented them and the insight I received from this video got me glued to the screen. Thanks, Alec.

[@namgyalsherpa7052]

Loved the video and the effort you have put in it I just suggest your channel through photographic eye love to see more these series of mind the gap

[@kellystohr2663]

Hey Alec-in the beginning of this video, you mentioned how much you appreciate when people leave comments, which inspired me to leave a comment of my own. I've been devouring your vlogs lately, and I've taken something special away from each one. I'm not a photographer, but I am a writer who enjoys taking photographs when words escape me. Photos have always played a massive role in my life, and you perfectly dictate why they're important. I believe I speak for many comment-shy people when I say, you have tons of silent fans who enjoy your content and haven't left remarks on your videos yet. Please keep making these

[@aboutphotography]

Great video as always! Thank you!

[@SpiderXweaponX]

Thank you. Decades from now we'll recognize these last two years as the 'Pandemic Years' and how we got through it. Your vids will be part of that answer. Happy holidays and happy new year. Best wishes.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

So nice. Thanks.

[@GJones-zx5nr]

Thank you, Merry Christmas

[@murciastreetphotography5165]

really interesting , beyond photography, don`t stop.....saludos desde Murcia, España....

[@persianchief]

Thank you for sharing !

[@matthamon8421]

Thanks again, Alec! As a photo teacher, there's so much in this conversation that will inform my discussions with young students about the medium's past vs. contemporary practice (casual and otherwise) in the context of the immediacy of social media and other vernacular venues... how we can use the medium and how it might work lyrically.

[@PresleyMartin1]

The idea that images are not made to be preserved has me thinking about the difference between written and spoken language. I think we're developing a spoken language of photographs that are not preserved but used for in the moment communication. Definite food for thought like all your videos. Cheers!

[@AlecSothYouTube]

exactly

[@guillermoquintanilla8374]

Gracias Alec !!!

[@DavidAlli]

love your work

[@AI-Hallucination]

Soth coming with free education again love you bro.

[@thomasdoty1082]

Hola, this is tom from my kitchen in minneapolis minnesota and i'm commenting to encourage you do do more videos.

[@PriestBeats]

this is amazing!

[@phillipsstanley]

Perceptions is everything when it comes to photography is what I think of this conversation. My perception of scene is something that can only be conveyed by words. The thoughts and perception of the viewer can be the same or totally different than mine. The walk away from a image is everything in this train of thought. Personally the gap makes me uncomfortable and I want as little of a gap as possible in my photography.

[@baltimorejac]

It’s so interesting to hear about the Frampton ideas in light of what you did for The Palms with connecting images together and also with destroying photos. Another version of that is how you have spoken of the sequencing of Sleeping by the Mississippi - one photo per page and needing us to hold the previous photo in our memory. As you talk about and ruminate on the physical weight of photos I also think about your act of taking the photo as the true experience and, like Albers says, perhaps all the photo needs to be or could be. I wonder about all these ideas and conceptual expressions of the photo viewing experience and I can’t help but think about the presentation of Broken Manual and the experience of that book, it’s included components and zines and whole constructed world it existed in and whether a more conceptual presentation was ever considered for the new work or is all that contained in the book and exhibition of A Pound of Pictures? Sometimes I think of you more as a conceptual artist than just photographer, but that’s maybe just because of how you’ve opened the hood up with these videos. What would the Palms be as a book experience? The vernacular photos included in the new book and the exhibition hints at that a bit I think. Love these deep dives!

[@FMSAir]

Thanks Alec for the videos, it would be interesting to comment your book to understand what’s behind each photo, this is what I miss the most to many photo books, your channel helps a lot to understand what’s behind

[@AlysVintageCameraAlley]

Alec, im such a huge admirer of your work, so I was so excited when you started this channel and grateful as well. I have been doing your Magnum course, and you talk a lot about Robert Adams and his influence on you. I was wondering if you will be doing a video on reading his work and his photo books maybe? I have a lot of his books and it is heavy stuff.

[@seBcopTer]

Robert Adams is like my photography hero. Soth in many ways as well. Would love to hear Soth talk about him!

[@rob9386]

Hey love the work

[@j.t.crijns1398]

Thanks again for a thought provoking video. Concerning the question of where art takes place and preserving the image two thoughts: First there is definitely a gap between the image and the spectator but, certainly with film/photography, there is also a gap between the image and that which it depicts, I think a similar gap exists in the other arts as well. Also: I think modern art ( like: Cage, Duchamp, Beuys, Frampton, Kawada) in this respect often poses the question if the viewer is merely a spectator / observer or a participator and/or co-author. So who makes the art, the artist or the viewer. (This may be in part due to the understanding that an artist, while making his art, is also partly a spectator / observer to his work, to this proces.) Ultimately I think these gaps are necessary, they offer room to give meaning. Art as a joint venture. (:)) So Mind the Gaps (and be thankful for them)

[@MichaelCroghan]

Like it, love it, well flushed out ideas put across in such a personable way, like I'm in the room listening to a story time with a favorite tv nice guy. The memory gap is unavoidable, Hollis the instant loss of studium, and speaking of Barthes, that non-image only he knows, but contrasting that to me, the map. The trauma of vision, and the urge to record an important memory. To me its like the epicenter of stains is mimicked through the other images, with that shaft of light, is like you are in that very moment of that killer ‘flash’ of light of the atomic bomb. It is a great strong book that keeps its narrative successfully, the lessening of the punctum in images. Look forward to that new book, it sounds like a great idea and the magic of photography, fragmented unknown gems. I am researching ‘space’ and ‘place’ for a project for an MA program, and there is no such thing as a place pre-set. A photograph is forever of that time and space, this past moment moves through time as it was, in every moment of now, the present, the absence of being there. Any space is made with spatiality and its social groupings, it is what social groups make it and what they make of it going onwards, continuum. Space is socially constructed and spatiality constructs the social element. Looking at older unknown vernacular images is an insatiable curiosity, magic of another time. Like a liminal space, with bizarre rituals, but the people are the same as us but in a different spatial place, another's story fascinates us.

[@kungfukonni5409]

Alec I need you back asappp

[@ddeveredanzig]

Challenging. “The Map” video helps me to see the contrast and differences between documentary and abstract, dare I say, artistic photography. While my own street/documentary photographs are quite literal, still many leave the viewer in that gap zone - who is this person,what are they doing, why are they here, what kind of life do they have. Your video and some of the others do challenge me to work on projects that are more abstract. Thanks.

[@paulraphael]

A central idea for one 20th century literary theorist's was that meaning gets generated in the gap between the work and the reader's / viewer's understanding. It's the act of bridging the gap that counts. I'll have to go over my old notes and remember whose idea this was. The implication is that "difficulty" in a work is required for it to work at all. If there's no gap, there's no bridging of the gap and no meaning getting made. But if it's too difficult, the reader just gets stuck.

[@joshpoltergeist]

This is such a good video oh my goodness

[@dyathink]

I live in Central America. Lots of years ago a friend from SF gave me a Large Format magazine and your photo was on the cover. You have been one of my heroes ever since. Each of these videos stirs so many thoughts and ideas. You blender pulse my brain and it's just wonderful. This video was a little tough, even for you. But just as I am sure you have wrestled with the concept of gaps I will need to watch this video again to get it. Thanks again. Another video, another priceless opportunity to listen to your mind and see with your eyes. Saludos de Costa Rica.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Thank you Kathleen

As we know, words alone can have many senses and meanings, they are concepts. They are worlds. (not planets) Words in a sentence, multiplies it all. They can try to define a "concept" by simplifying it, explaining it, demonstrating it, or they can, on the other hand, try to blur it out. Like we have a floating kind of worlds. The text is what is written or said. But we don't know the entirety of what the creation of this text involved. We do not know the author's knowledge, experience or maturity. In this way it is not only Mind the Gap, but it is also coincidence/non-coincidence. We know how coincidence is so important in photography. Photography is a world, a way of making worlds. And if it's a way of making worlds, it's a way of making maps. Not just recording. Not just memory. Frampton, especially in the video (but also in the book), adds something else. It causes a displacement of time for the viewer, another (mis)coincidence. (If I may, I'll add here the text I wrote for Alec's "Emotional Marginalia" video. I think it might help to better understand what I've written here. In this text I try to write about mind the gap, not just hiatus but difference of maturity, difference of experience) From the video "Emotional Marginalia" : When we take a photograph, of a landscape, of a person, of an object, we are photographing the planet. But now, that planet in a photograph, on a sheet of paper or on a screen, is now a world. An object/world "living" on the planet. A Certain World, also due to the photographer's decisions. Photography makes worlds born in and from the planet. These worlds are senders that will be received by receivers, which they also have and are "worlds" that live on the planet. A photograph is the narrowest part of an hourglass, the photographer is one of the ampules and the person who sees the photograph is another of the ampules. One of the ampule is the photographer's entire life experience and the other of the ampule is the observer's entire life experience. Then we rotate the hourglass.