Sleeping by the Mississippi

Alec Soth (1969)

American dreams and disillusionments via portraits and interiors structured around metaphors of sleep, journey, and emotional solitude, rooted in the topography of the Mississippi River.

Description

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.

Behind the work

Soth initially considered the river itself as the obvious subject but shifted to using it as a "through line" or a path for wandering, photographing the people and places along its banks. He confessed that the project is not necessarily about the Mississippi River itself, as there are few direct photographs of it.

Soth’s concept for image sequencing in Sleeping by the Mississippi was partly shaped by an earlier, unrealized project titled From Here to There, which aimed to connect photographs through visual or thematic chains. Although the strategy included playful exercises—like capturing the world’s smallest churches—it ultimately proved counterproductive. Viewers became more interested in the links than the images themselves, prompting Soth to reconsider how to guide viewers through a body of work.

The portrait of Charles began with an impulsive visit to a quirky home in Vasa, Minnesota, where Soth met a man described by his wife as a dreamer who'd rebuilt his stairwell three times. Twenty-three years later, Soth returned to find Charles in the same house, grieving Martha’s loss, and keeping a copy of Sleeping by the Mississippi—borrowed from the library and never returned.

The photograph of Charles Lindbergh's boyhood bed was made before the project was specifically about the Mississippi River and was initially part of the From Here to There series. Soth found the image poignant, connecting to themes of dreaming and the vast possibilities of a young life overlooking the river.

Soth used notes describing types of pictures he wanted taped to the steering wheel of his car while on the road. These lists included things like "beards, birdwatchers, mushroom hunters, men’s retreats, after the rain, figures from behind, suitcases, tall people (especially skinny), targets, tents, treehouses and tree lines".

Quotes by the photographer

"I’ve been photographing along the Mississippi since I was in college. It runs right through my town and is an obvious path to follow. I began to think that the river itself could function as a metaphor for that kind of wandering. If you look at a map, the river doesn’t go strictly north to south. It carves this crazy path all over the place. That is really what I wanted to do…wander. Of course, this is a huge part of the mythology of the river; Huck Finn and all of that."

"I learned that, once a thriving source of the American economy, the river is now a worn and faded place. But those that remain often make really creative and peculiar lives for themselves. Our vision of America is so shaped by television and movies. All we see are Hollywood starlets and New York cops. We sometimes forget that there are whole other lives being lived in the middle of America. And some of these lives are really inspiring."

"The lesson I learned is that great pictures are all about luck. And anyone can take a great picture. But very few people can put together a great collection of pictures. It is incredibly difficult to put these fragments together in a meaningful way. And this is my goal. Along the way, of course, I hope to make great individual images. But the art, for me, is in the collection and interplay of images."

"There are two pictures of prostitutes in Sleeping by the Mississippi. I could justify this by saying that prostitution, like prisons, has historically played an important role along the river. But this wasn’t my reason. I photographed prostitutes because I was curious. One of the great things about being a photographer is that it gives you an excuse to investigate things that you are curious about."

"The obvious reason that I’ve photographed the Midwest is that I live there; in Minnesota. So I have a feeling for the place. But I can understand why it has been passed over. The Midwest isn’t exotic. And photographers (myself included) are attracted to the exotic. Middle sometimes means bland... Of course, when you get involved in the Midwest, there are a lot of interesting nuances. But it isn’t obvious. The Midwest doesn’t have the grandeur of the West or the exoticism of the South. This was one of my favourite things about working along the Mississippi."

"The whole of issue of whom I photograph, and how I photograph them, makes me uncomfortable. In making a portrait, I am indeed “objectifying” my subject. There is something unpleasant about all of this. And if I spend too much time analyzing it, I’d probably just take pictures of flowers. The one thing I will say is that I truly try to look at people optimistically, even with love. This is actually easier to do with strangers than it is to do with people you know well."

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