Rambling through Eggleston's Democratic Forest

Alec Soth talks about William Eggleston's books, with special emphasis on The Democratic Forest.

[@etiennepell694]

This is like ASMR for photographers

[@AlecSothYouTube]

haha yes

[@jarmalmartis4050]

Yo I was just about to say this

[@johnbarben]

I had to look that up - you’re right!!

[@ryan_conover]

I only wish I’d found this 11months ago. The world is shitty with Covid again though, so

[@mattdayphoto]

Thank you for sharing this. It’s truly appreciated.

[@CoanBread751]

Really enjoyed this, Alec. The KZbin photography community is in dire need of this type of meaningful analysis. More please.

[@SteveMillerhuntingforfood]

Check out THopper

[@marleymcmillan9155]

I brought up this book in my photo class and now my photography teacher loves me. Ty Mr. Soth 😌

[@davidcibis2645]

everytime you said "don't worry, I won't show all of it" I was hoping you would show all of it. Thank you for this!

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Haha, I should do the extended version

[@HuyNguyen-lu3zj]

​@@AlecSothKZbin Worry not, perusers of Eggleston. Just head over to The Photobook Guy, where I believe the whole Democratic Forest box set is shown. Grab a six pack or your beverage of choice, settle in to a comfy seat and enjoy: kzbin.info/door/zjx1mZr9gR_wjIQF4HvYygvideos.

[@CarmineGroe]

Thank you Alec. I was comfortably enjoying a morning coffee in my pjs with the sun on my back and found this. Yes, it was great. Led to another cup of coffee and a new inspiration for what can be photographed. John Szarkowski was such a master editor and poetic communicator of everything photography. Poetry. Sequencing. Less, not more. We are surrounded with more. 2020 has taught us that less is better than more. Unless we’re talking about good conversation and talks like this. Please keep them coming Alec, we need more.

[@joshtaylor9141]

This was perfect. Though I think I missed the bit where you said "Thank you to Squarespace" and "please click like and subscribe". More please.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

haha

[@ErwinSerle]

One of the first photo books I bought, second hand, before buying the other 450+ or so ;-) Highly enjoyed many of your talks so far!

[@FranzSchuier]

Letting you know: Yes please do more of this.

[@murkom]

Dear Alec, just two days ago I have found out you have a youtube channel. I have binged instantly all your videos. I can ´t even described how I feel. Thank you, thank you. Please continue talking about the books from your collection. My best regards, Miroslav

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Will do, thanks Miroslav

[@dyathink]

William Eggleston's Guide was so life changing for me. Indescribably so. Like a karate chop to my imagination. Thanks for this discussion. It was hugely interesting and smart.

[@loading12342000]

Please don't stop doing this kind of videos

[@demazy]

Once we understand his perspective, nothing is challenging, nothing is strange, nothing is hard to like and there’s no mistake into the sequence. There’s not even the desire of being curious of the other 10.000 photographs. It just makes sense and we see the flow appearing. It explains why it could be edited by someone else’s and why there’s so many books. The choice is not important. Our judgement and desire to find an explanation based on concept is misleading us to fail into the correct interpretation. Classifying the photographs into like « Interior » is really a mean joke but also giving a clue toward the solution. The edit without knowing how has done it after knowing who did it for the other ones, is also a clue. Same photographs, different edit is also a clue. The ennemies are our expectations, our déductives mind, our taste and them editing in a way that it is misleading but also genius way that makes his perspective blend into his highest standards photographs. Thank you for the inspiration and the ranting that is pure magnesium black fire starter for some minds. This is daunting and freeing at the time. Only making it ours will ease the feeling and tension.

[@Apprendre-Photo]

I think this might be the best photography video I've ever seen on KZbin. And I'm not exaggerating. Your insights are so on point. Not surprised considering the quality of your online masterclass, but can you do it for your whole library ? Pretty please ? :D

[@HatefYaminiOnline]

Totally agree

[@nikosb1978]

Thanx for letting us peaking into your mind :) ... More please !

[@justininfrance]

Love that you use the words 'challenging' and 'difficult' where many others would simply saying boring. Photographers like Eggleston show us that nothing is boring, it's only a question of how, and what, one perceives.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.” - John Cage

[@marcoandres7475]

Zen: John Cage « 4:33 » [1952 - in 3 movements of silence with instruments at rest.lasting 4 minutes and 33 seconds]. Looking vs seeing: just one look

[@kerrymatthew]

Agree, it's such an artistically mature and open minded way of viewing images. A good reminder for myself.

[@juliend4260]

Probably the best format I have seen on KZbin ever. Could listing to you talking about photo books for ages. Thank you very much Alec!

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Thanks so much Julien

[@Mickey-bo6cv]

This is gem! I feel like I’m taking an amazing class with an amazing teacher in my own home. Absolutely love learning your insights. I love the casual pacing and vibe. Thank you so much!

[@dersu9003]

It seems like I never fail to enjoy hearing you speak, Alec. Pls go on with this initiative of yours! Thx

[@macivorod]

As a retired UPI photographer and an Alec Soth fan, I enjoyed this talk greatly! as the books were sometimes tough to understand, a lot was sorted out for me by Alec's words. Rambling and Democratic with the best photos acknowledged!...

[@coffeepyros]

More rambling please. Thanks!

[@user-ur2wd8du4z]

Please more and thanks.

[@lukekerrphoto]

Please never stop these. It’s like educating me while in a meditative state. Thank you Alec

[@jeffboxill1278]

It would be great if you could do an analysis on Lee Friedlander.

[@danielemilazzo432]

Thank you Alec!!!!!!

[@AndrewMillerStudio]

Thank you for this, Alec! As someone who doesn't have a formal education in art or photography, videos like this are an invaluable resource to learn about the importance of editing and sequencing. Thoroughly enjoyed this and I hope you'll do more this year!

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Thanks Andrew

[@panagiwtiskalkavouras9708]

That was great!!! Thank you very much for this video!!!

[@davidsaylors]

Now I understand what kind of photographer I am a little more. I also like to photograph all sorts of what seems to be mundane items of the world around me and hate editing... 😬👍📸 Thank you for the talks I really enjoy them.

[@bcomhaire]

Love it! Thank you Alec

[@boarini2003]

This was a incredible video. Thank you for sharing your views and passion on Eggleston. It really made appreciate his work even more, especially the Guide.

[@1901iasonas]

Keep going! We love that! Greetings from Greece

[@dankspangle]

It's so easy to get lost in the technologies and practices of photography. Thank you for reminding me to look at photographs. More, please.

[@guntercaus4155]

If this is called 'rambling', then ramble on! I enjoyed every minute of this Mr. Soth. It's a nice opportunity and insight to hear (and see) one master talking about another master.

[@PascaleSigura]

Thank you for your time and for sharing your knowledge, analyse and thoughts. This was extremely interesting. Good food for thought!

Alec, listening to you talk about your photography and other photographers is a pleasure. You always speaks with openness and sincerity. I want to hear you talk more about book editing, but also about photography in general. It is very important what you are doing, for everyone who is interested in photography.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Thank you

[@zbigniewmalak_tenor]

Wow, thank you for all your videos! Please keep doing it. You are a huge inspiration!

[@nassimghrayeb2005]

Mind blown. To borrow your words, this was seriously challenging. Thanks?

[@ninjal7893]

Really love this video.Please do more!

[@bassmarion]

I could listen to more of that “rambling talk”... Thank you for the much appreciated time and lesson !

[@dianakorniichenko]

Dear Alec, thank you. Your voice is soothing. Thoughts after watching: what tells apart a challenging photograph from an unsuccessful one. What makes a photograph worth looking at.If pictures are random , what holds them together. And what is modern art without an idea to support it. Warmest greetings from Berlin

[@zakariyeawnur2558]

Hi Alec, thanks for your time and the channel. Maybe the way to resolve Eggleston’s lack of editing and choice over his published photos is to remember Lacan’s reworking of Descartes‘s self-possessing I which has become central to the liberal fantasy of the subject. Lacan also never wrote most of his seminars and used his students' notes and published those, his main point was that the self is not entirely a master of its domain, even if you could speak about self and mastership at all. He said “I think where I am not, therefore I am where I do not think.” (Complete quote: “I think where I am not, therefore I am where I do not think. I am not whenever I am the plaything of my thought; I think of what I am where I do not think to think.” I guess what I’m trying to get at is: If Eggleston took all these pictures, and the editor selection and power over the book does not erase Eggleston here, maybe it reveals to us something even more essential to Eggleston’s work. After all, why should good work or good selection only represent our work? Why do we even take these photos? Isn’t that maybe that is what is democratic about the forest. IG: @boynative.jpg

[@shamhinchey8680]

Love your rambling. Thanks Alec.

[@SavouryWhale]

This is my first video I've ever watched like this, and my first time experiencing Eggleston. I am blown away. The end of your video had me drawn in. Eggleston's guide is a seriously beautiful and equally ugly. Gosh. The emotions I had no idea I would find in a photo book.

[@KAMALKamal-pq1vh]

Hi Alec, Thank you so much for your time. I think this is wonderful, to you thinking about young people as well.

[@alfyhot]

Thank you so much for these!

[@HatefYaminiOnline]

Enthusiastic +1 to more of these, especially books that include narrative and discussion of photography or that are instructive. This talk is so good. Love it.

[@ZZ.91]

i feel better after this video. Thank you a lot !

[@hastinajafi5898]

please still do this when the pandemic is over, your videos mean a lot.

[@BandariVahab]

I didn't know you had a KZbin channel and glad to be watching this video. Love your vision about the images. Thank you for sharing!

[@Henrique-ng9ev]

Thank you! Unfortunately I had to stop at 31:36 because I'm waiting Eggleston's Guide.

[@antoinedbf4307]

Thanks for sharing these ! Love your videos !

[@susanneh2207]

This is like a Masterclass on William Eggleston! Thank you so much for this incredible video.

[@Tontontony]

Thank you!

[@ammartaibi2623]

we all needed this channel, thank you

[@alexandretestezlaf6701]

Thank you Alec. This is just brilliant, I could stay hours and hours watching. Can’t wait for the next ones!

[@kekmountain2882]

Please keep doing this, I could listen to ramblings on photography all day.

[@govindan]

Thank you alec.

[@outsider_outsider]

This is great, thanks for sharing.

[@olympus2OM]

It's all food for thought. Damn it is. The photos of Eggleston makes an impact in seeing our world, our surroundings. This books will leave no one indifferent. I like the series to be continued.

[@jonpadrnos3304]

Thank you!!!!

[@kenbrown1234]

Thanks for that. That was great...

[@herbertacciaio]

Fantastic!!!!! You're so amazing in presenting Egglestone and using his vision as a troyan horse to explain what it'a all about when you take a picture. Thanks!

[@mbfotograf]

Thank you Alex, I love your work and your personality of how you talk, think and bring us your view in our homes.

[@katyaspiegel3081]

Thank you so much! For each and every word. You can't even image how much this means for us, people from such countries like Belarus, which don't have art photography education. And what's a happiness to have this democratic medium.

[@2filmshooters]

Thank you very much for this video Mr.Soth♥️, beautiful photobook and wonderful commentary, I hope there will be many more🙏🏻Greetings from Italy 👋🏻

[@altovich]

This video is on the same level of blessing as David Lynch's weather forecasts. Best content on KZbin.

[@lorenzocatena6377]

Listening to your ramblings makes me happy! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏻

[@morefiction]

Thanks for sharing

[@mimesis.]

Hi, Alec. I am your fan who lives in Korea. I like your books so much. I felt your images as much as I could at the photo library today. I love that I can see you often on KZbin. Instagram feels so hectic and crowded. I'll look forward to your move.

[@hulotpower]

Hello Mr Soth, i come from belgium, and i appreciate your presentation. It was a dream, now it'a real. Merci beaucoup!

[@tricityterror]

Great video for an overactive mind at 12am

[@robertgougher5922]

Wonderful exploration. Thanks much for sharing. Your musings about the implied meanings at the end of guide (1976) made me think of the relationship between Szarkowsky and Arbus.

[@tomastapia8078]

Hi Alec! Thank you so much for sharing this video and your thoughts on Eggleston work. Im sure we all would appreciate more videos and discussions like this one.... Greetings from Chile!

[@cyrilchapelle5455]

William Eggleston is my favorite photographer and this is by far the most comprehensive video I have seen on his work and a very good introduction. It is also a democratic way to have access to these very expansive books.

[@Raevenswood]

when you talk about giving over control of the editing and how that might affect the book it made me think of Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel's photo book "Evidence" which is entirely comprised of appropriated images from archives. It isn't their photography but by editing the content they created art. In that regard we could think of The Democratic Forest as more of a work by Holborn than Eggleston.

[@IanLivesey]

Ha! Never thought I would skip a bit in an Alec Soth video - but I have Election Eve hidden away for my birthday and didn’t want any spoilers :) Thanks for creating this deep dive and sight!

[@davidharlan2460]

Alec, I really enjoy your discussions on these works. It is such a great learning tool.

[@jakecampbell]

I absolutely loved this video alec! simple and captivating. thanks!

[@Durlin1]

The Democratic Forest comments are really about editing - or not editing, if you wish, and the multiple versions of the book. But the jewel in this video is Alec's brief tour through Eggleston's Guide, which begins about 31 minutes in. Bravo, Alec Soth!

[@tugbacarvalho8046]

I have been taking your Magnum education series extremely slow simply not to consume them so fast and continue listening to you. This video has just made my day! Looking forward to seeing more of these "ramblings".

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Thank you Tugba

[@Romelefty]

Well done Alec, inspiring, informative and at minute 41:31 Wolfgang Tillmans photo, It's a bridge in Rome, maybe Ponte Garibaldi, in case anyone was wondering. Thanks for these great vlogs.

[@Chida_o_0]

thanks for sharing!

[@koishes00]

amazing. keep rambling please

[@Camerasnaps]

Thank you Alec. When you open a photobook it screams words at you. Now someone else who is talking through books like myself on CAMERA. Keep it up and look forward to more.

[@paulraphael]

A great master class. Thank you.

[@garonkiesel1646]

I really want to thank you for diving into and explaining the thought and ideas behind William Eggleston's work. For the past 25 years Eggleston has been one of those photographers I never bought into. I never understood the hype and I actually believed his rise to stardom was nothing more than a Pygmalion experiment set in motion by John Szarkowski to get the photo/art world to swallow crap and call it meatloaf. His use of color has flashes of brilliance but I could never get past the poor composition and unusual framing. In fact... I find his early black and white work to be some of my favorite. What I am trying to say is that my attitude has changed drastically. I am beginning to understand that the lesser photographs lay the groundwork and set up the more iconic images. For too long I believed that every image in a book had to be a grand slam (The Ansel Adams mindset) rather than a series of lesser images contributing to a greater story and narrative. Thank you for your insight

[@AlecSothYouTube]

Fantastic comment Garon. Allowing for an evolution in perspective is a gift.

[@tedbear2441]

So good. I very much appreciate how you say what you think but are kind about how you do it. That's a hugely undervalued skill these days. Ramble on!

[@maedehmirzaei6437]

I watched this video last night while having a night shift at work and i really enjoyed it .apart from my fondness to Eggleston,by watching your video i felt i am a guest at your house drinking a cup of tea and you just show us things that u have recently saw and read. Thanks for the invitation :))

[@JacobBland]

Please do more. Wonderful.

[@laimaarlauskaite]

Thank you, Alec. This is truly special.

[@stephenfowler7583]

This video has to be what the internet is for. Sharing images is fine but exploring the way images work and how they work collectively is so important. Superb video .... more please. The Democratic education.

[@AlecSothYouTube]

"Democratic education" !

[@pifranc]

Thank you very much for this video. One of the things I like, is that you're sharing questions, and elaborating on these questions, rather than answers. Very fine food for thought, thank you.

[@leoquesto9183]

The first person to appear in the Democratic Forest, the kid in hat, is Eggleston's son, Winston -- as is the kid looking at the guns.

[@marcsteculorum5732]

Very nice exposé. And indeed John Szarkowski made a great photographer even greater... We miss him.

[@MrYerbaMate1]

Loved this. I could listen to you talk about photo books all day. Thanks making this video.

[@EirikSvela]

Sometimes when if people are very proficient at something, it's hard for them to do it badly. I find it entertaining to imagine Mark Holborn trying really hard to make a democratic edit, but every time he ends up with ten volumes of neatly labeled projects. (Also, thank you Alec! This amazing. Please make more)

[@seanhemmerle3279]

What a gift. Thank you for your voracious insights.

[@michaelkreizenbeck4569]

Thanks! More rambling, please.

[@andyflack7940]

I have to agree regarding William Eggleston’s Guide. It’s the only Eggleston book I have and it had such an impact on me the moment I opened it and still does every time I return to it. I always find it hard to square in my mind how he had a line into the human soul and yet seemed to live such a privileged life. Those 2 things don’t normally go together. Anyway, great analysis, I look forward to more.

[@jzalutsky]

I bought a copy of democratic forest several years ago, only knowing his most famous works...I thought "I'll sit with it and I'm sure Ill get something from it" but it's always remained a bit of an enigma to me. its for sure hard to know how much consideration some of these images really deserve... Past some broader conceptional notion of the democratic.. some of the images...I just find myself wondering why? That all said I think about it often and I keep returning to it, great to hear your perspective and learn a bit of the history around the publishing of the book. Definitely love to see more of these. Though you spoke to this a bit its especially interesting to hear about your personal feelings, what images you find most meaningful and why.