Why “Good Photos” Don’t Matter – Alec Soth Explains

taking a good picture. A monkey can take a good picture. It's like there's nothing. It's just it's not very complicated. It's taking, you know, a picture that has meaning to you that's challenging. This is a picture of Charles, probably the most famous photo by Alex Sooth. But the reason why it's this picture and not a different one is something I misunderstood for a long time. It was until I interviewed Alec for the blog. We talked about why you should not chase style, about photography projects, and what it takes to make great pictures that have meaning. So, I used to think that a visual style was the key to great photos. Something you could achieve with a Lightroom preset. And what fascinated me about photographers like Alex was their distinctive style. You look at their photos and that's their look. And while that's true, that's actually the result of something deeper. >> I think style is a d is is a dangerous term cuz it's almost like a it's like a filter that you put you screw on your lens. And so I think that style like I think that your voice is not style. And so I think you need to find your voice and hope that it's going to have stylistic qualities that make it, you know, appealing or whatever. The key might be in how Alec approaches his projects. What I find really interesting is that even once he begins a project, he stays flexible and open to shifts from his original ideas. That's also how his latest book, Advice for Young Artists, was born. Despite the title, it's not a guide book. Alec was drawn to young creative people at the start of their artistic journeys, which felt strange to me at first. Like why would someone like him wanted to reconnect with the beginner spirit, right? >> The thing I I often think is like you have what I want. Like you have the newness that I want. They want the success and the the claim and acknowledgement and all that that maybe that I have maybe sometimes but um but the the gold is what they have which is that like something's new and exciting. When it comes to general advice, Alec is convinced it's full of cliche and to be honest being told be patient it takes time isn't really helpful is it? Uh that's why he focuses on giving specific advice during his one-on-one time in his workshops. >> I try to build one-on-one time so that I can figure out exactly what kind of work they're making and why they're making it. And so then I can get into the very nitty-gritty because I don't like taking a good picture. Uh a monkey can take a good picture. It's like it's not very complicated. It's taking, you know, a picture that has meaning to you that's challenging. And so then you have to figure out what has meaning to you, what's valuable to you. >> Alex says it becomes almost like a therapy session. To make good work beyond just good pictures, you have to do internal work, but there's also something else, something that's maybe hard to accept because it feels out of control. I mean, it's an interesting thing about like great pictures. They're so mysterious. They're like to me they're anomalies. Um like I do a body of work and hopefully there's a great picture in there or a couple, you know, or some a few good ones, but the the number of variables that make that is beyond comprehension to me. And it it involves like the way they interact with the world, too. So the thing about that the picture of Charles the guy with the airplanes like I think it's a good picture but it's also like it had it was used as a poster for the Whitney bianial. It was reproduced in the press. It like it took on different lives. Um and all of that stuff affects its the way it's perceived as a photograph. to use the music analogy like a pop song like billions of pop songs and then every once in a while one is like the song and is it the song because you it was on the radio over and over again or is it the song because you know like there are different reasons I mean it can be a very special song but it's also how it worked in the culture at that given time and it's so much of that is out of one's control I feel like like if I were a musician I would be trying to make a great album and and then hopefully magically there's a couple great songs that are like unbelievable. >> Alex ambition isn't to go out and make the greatest picture of all time every day. He can't work that way. He has to focus on creating a project and then hopefully these standout moments happen along the way. In the end, it's not about chasing likes, views, style or the perfect shot. It's about doing the inner work, staying open and trusting that meaning will emerge. That's where the magic happens. There are no rules. Like you are, if you are an artist, you are free. You can do that thing. Do people respond to it? That's another question. But you are free. What I really want is to feel that feeling is to like be fully immersed and excited about making. That's what I really want. Um, that's what I want most of all.