I decided to take a closer look at Alec Soth's, Sleeping by the Mississippi. Before looking at the photos and their captions, I assumed all photos were taken in Mississippi but I am happy I was wrong. In this series I found the way Soth captured his interest with intimacy and struggle, both economic and social, very refreshing. He selected, not "straight-laced" individuals, but those with a dark past or checkered background, and photographed them in their setting, capturing how they endure their respective locations. The inclusion of the photograph book, Vagabond Path, is what, to me, officially connected all the pieces within this series. Each of the photographs contains the stereotypes and identifiers of the South and Midwest, whether it be the backwoods scenery, religion, poverty, music, incarceration, and prostitution and/or stripping. The contrast of within his work is unreal. He alternates between passively contrasting colors and textures or extreme using vibrant colors in contrast with muted or softer tones. The two I am more drawn to are the second and fourth photos, because of the contrast and their stories and though I do not know said stories I can speculate the correlation between the book and Adelyn. Many probably judge her, calling her a vagabond because of her piercings, tattoos and dyed hair. Maybe she once led a reckless and "unsavory" lifestyle and decided it wasn't for her and turned to religion and is now a teacher. That is why I enjoy his work, the intimacy, in conjunction with the fact that a lot of what is photographed in this series are the sites many have not or choose not to see. Once they do, or are forced to, they rarely attempt to understand why, instead they find it easier to label and write someone, something, or a lifestyle off as the lesser, more criminal life.
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