The United States of Fear: Alec Soth Photographs the Death of Community in America

THE GUARDIAN
By Sean O'Hagan

Children of Eden. Maplewood, Minnesota. © Alec Soth 2015, courtesy of Mack

"Songbook," even with its mischievous undertow, would seem to confirm Ionesco’s assertion and reassert Alec Soth’s position as the foremost visual chronicler of contemporary America’s nostalgias and fears. "Bowling Alone" is one of two starting points for Alec Soth’s "Songbook." It opens with a single portrait of a man dancing in an empty room, followed by a verse from Cole Porter’s classic song "Night and Day." On the opposite page is a group portrait of girls and one older woman linking hands, their eyes closed in prayer. They are performers in a production of the Christian musical "Children of Eden," from Soth’s homestate of Minnesota. [link]