In Sleeping by the Mississippi Alec Soth explores the vast cultural and emotional landscape along the Mississippi River through a series of photographs created between 1999 and 2002. Traveling from northern Minnesota to Louisiana, Soth employs the river as a symbolic thread linking disparate lives and landscapes, reflecting both his personal wanderlust and a wider commentary on American identity at the turn of the millennium.
The project emerged during a period when America's mainstream media often focused heavily on coastal urban narratives, leaving the Mississippi region—a complex mix of the Midwest and South—largely overlooked. By illuminating the quiet dramas of this "third coast," Soth engages with themes central to American mythology, including freedom, isolation, poverty, race, and dreams of better futures that seem perpetually deferred.
Soth’s artistic vision is deeply poetic, emphasizing emotional resonance and interpretative openness rather than explicit storytelling. Beds and mattresses serve as repeated visual motifs, symbolizing dreams, restlessness, and vulnerability, amplifying the introspective tone of the series.
Visually, Soth’s use of a large-format 8x10 camera provides meticulously detailed images. The slow and deliberate process required by this equipment contributes to the formal, often static composition of the portraits and interiors, enhancing the contemplative atmosphere. Lighting plays a crucial role, with Soth frequently employing flash to bring clarity and fullness to scenes, thereby reinforcing the subtle realism of each subject and environment. Engaging his subjects in reflective conversation and inviting them to record their dreams, Soth established a rapport that deepened the emotional tone of each photograph.
First published as a photobook by Steidl in 2004 (later expanded by MACK in 2017), Sleeping by the Mississippi quickly entered major venues—most notably the 2004 Whitney Biennial—and anchored Soth’s early solo shows (e.g., Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, 2004), with museum presentations and acquisitions following (including a complete set at the Minneapolis Institute of Art). Recognition around the project included the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography and Soth’s 2004 nomination to Magnum Photos.