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Broken Manual
Created over four years (2006-2010), Alec Soth's newest book represents a significant departure from his three previous Steidl publications. Entitled Broken Manual, Soth investigates the places in which people retreat to escape civilization. Soth photographs monks, survivalists, hermits and runaways, but this isn't a conventional documentary book on life "off the grid." Instead, working with the writer Lester B. Morrison, the authors have created an underground instruction manual for those looking to escape their lives.
68 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2012
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About the author
Alec Soth
59 books37 followersAlec Soth (b. 1969) is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has published over thirty books including Sleeping by the Mississippi (2004), NIAGARA (2006), Broken Manual (2010), Songbook (2015), I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating (2019), A Pound of Pictures (2022), and Advice for Young Artists (2024).
Soth has had over fifty solo exhibitions including survey shows organized by Jeu de Paume in Paris (2008), the Walker Art Center in Minnesota (2010), Media Space in London (2015), and the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (2024). Soth has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2013). In 2008, Soth created Little Brown Mushroom, a multi-media enterprise focused on visual storytelling. Soth is represented by Sean Kelly in New York, Weinstein Hammons Gallery in Minneapolis, Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco, Loock Galerie in Berlin, and is a member of Magnum Photos.
Soth has had over fifty solo exhibitions including survey shows organized by Jeu de Paume in Paris (2008), the Walker Art Center in Minnesota (2010), Media Space in London (2015), and the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (2024). Soth has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2013). In 2008, Soth created Little Brown Mushroom, a multi-media enterprise focused on visual storytelling. Soth is represented by Sean Kelly in New York, Weinstein Hammons Gallery in Minneapolis, Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco, Loock Galerie in Berlin, and is a member of Magnum Photos.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2022
Framed around a survivalist manual penned by Soth's alter ego (Lester B. Morrison) and filled with images of hermits, ascetics, and fugitives—Broken Manual is both an ode to, and a critique of, the masculine fantasy of escape.
Largely eschewing the powerful and iconic color images found in Sleeping By The Mississippi and Niagara, Broken Manual takes a quieter, subtler tack. The photographs are deeply intertwined with the textual framing and many shots simply would not work apart from their context in the overall project. (A potent example being a fairly banal image of a treeline impregnated by its caption: "The Unabomber's View.")
The photos themselves range from the grand 8x10 opuses for which Soth is best known, to blurry and indistinct 35mm crops overflowing with the poetry of suggestion. There are monochrome studio still lifes, direct references to Robert Frank images, digital photo manipulations, a breathtaking sculpture built by Soth, and more. The project hovers effortlessly between a traditional photobook and a mixed-media art project; and it is a testament to Soth's generational talent that the whole thing doesn't collapse under the weight its own ambitions.
Since its initial publication in 2010, Broken Manual has—much like its subjects—been frustratingly elusive. The first edition was limited to 300 copies (most of which now go for thousands online) and the second edition never materialized. Fortunately, the project has recently been reissued as part of Soth's 2022 "Gathered Leaves Annotated" collection. Unlike the other works in that newsprint compendium, Broken Manual has been left entirely un-annotated. It seems that Alec Soth recognized that for most, this was their first opportunity to experience the book; and he wisely decided to leave it as uncluttered as possible.
Largely eschewing the powerful and iconic color images found in Sleeping By The Mississippi and Niagara, Broken Manual takes a quieter, subtler tack. The photographs are deeply intertwined with the textual framing and many shots simply would not work apart from their context in the overall project. (A potent example being a fairly banal image of a treeline impregnated by its caption: "The Unabomber's View.")
The photos themselves range from the grand 8x10 opuses for which Soth is best known, to blurry and indistinct 35mm crops overflowing with the poetry of suggestion. There are monochrome studio still lifes, direct references to Robert Frank images, digital photo manipulations, a breathtaking sculpture built by Soth, and more. The project hovers effortlessly between a traditional photobook and a mixed-media art project; and it is a testament to Soth's generational talent that the whole thing doesn't collapse under the weight its own ambitions.
Since its initial publication in 2010, Broken Manual has—much like its subjects—been frustratingly elusive. The first edition was limited to 300 copies (most of which now go for thousands online) and the second edition never materialized. Fortunately, the project has recently been reissued as part of Soth's 2022 "Gathered Leaves Annotated" collection. Unlike the other works in that newsprint compendium, Broken Manual has been left entirely un-annotated. It seems that Alec Soth recognized that for most, this was their first opportunity to experience the book; and he wisely decided to leave it as uncluttered as possible.
September 11, 2023
What a perfect piece of art. Everything about this book is everything I love.
I read this, twice, while eating breakfast with a friend and a brilliant thinker. Lana Del Rey playing on vinyl in the background. Paris, Texas, to be exact. The song named after my favourite movie, which I watched (again) last night. Which deals with this exact issue: wanting to disappear. A craving to never exist, maybe. To move to the lot where you were just a pressure in the balls of your father. I feel so deeply for these people. Usually, these broken men. Bullied by the church, the state, their own families. This is how it feels. A heartbreaking unit, this is.
Everything in this book complimented everything. The texts, the edits and the doodles, the references to Unabomber, the pictures and the materials used.
I am a giant Alec Soth fan from now on.
I read this, twice, while eating breakfast with a friend and a brilliant thinker. Lana Del Rey playing on vinyl in the background. Paris, Texas, to be exact. The song named after my favourite movie, which I watched (again) last night. Which deals with this exact issue: wanting to disappear. A craving to never exist, maybe. To move to the lot where you were just a pressure in the balls of your father. I feel so deeply for these people. Usually, these broken men. Bullied by the church, the state, their own families. This is how it feels. A heartbreaking unit, this is.
Everything in this book complimented everything. The texts, the edits and the doodles, the references to Unabomber, the pictures and the materials used.
I am a giant Alec Soth fan from now on.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews