We're pleased to announce that guest curator Alec Soth, renowned photographer and publisher of Little Brown Mushroom Books, has selected Glen Erler for our fifth and final Curator's Choice Award. Glen will receive the "Little Brown Mushroom Love Pack" a collection of publications including: an autographed edition of Bedknobs & Broomsticks by Trent Parke, Lost Boy Mountain by Lester B. Morrison, The Last Days of W. by Alec Soth and a screen-printed LBM t-shirt. Congratulations, Glen!
Guest Curator Alec Soth writes of Glen's Hey, Hot Shot! entry:
Photography is almost invariably linked with nostalgia. While it is the essential charm of vernacular photography, nostalgia often sinks the art photography ship. But every so often a photographer comes along who is able to harness the power of nostalgia without becoming maudlin. Glen Erler navigates this terrain with dexterity and restraint.
Alec, and our panel, had the unusual opportunity to look at fifteen images submitted by Glen, who made three submissions to Hey, Hot Shot! from his series Family Tree. Below is a selection from these images.
Baseball Backstop. La Mesa, Ca, 2006 by Glen Erler
Portrait Of Coral With Baby Olivia. Oceanside, Ca., 2007 by Glen Erler
My Aunt Holly Holding A Picture Of Dinah. La Mesa, Ca., 2005 by Glen Erler
Logan Lying By The Pool. Vista, Ca., 2008 by Glen Erler
Weeds. Valley Center, Ca., 2007 by Glen Erler
Cross Above Tootie's Bed. Santee, Ca., 2009 by Glen Erler
Glen Erler's Statement:
Family Tree is a project about the loss and rebirth of my family. I moved from Southern California to England 14 years ago and whilst visiting family members back home, I started photographing the people and places that were important memories in the shaping of who I am today. While I've been living in England, many of my relatives on both my fathers and mothers sides have passed away and this has made me realize the impact death has on the lives of those remaining. These images explore the current status of some of my remaining family members in their daily lives and are moments spent together during family gatherings. I also concentrated on returning to places where either significant events in my life happened or happened to those around me and have remained with me since childhood. They are not always memories of great importance but in fact played a role in the life I once knew. This project also explores the addition of a new generation into our family. My nieces are now wives and mothers and their children will experience a very similar life to what I experienced. I tried to find beauty in the everyday life I took for granted while retracing footsteps of places where my memories lay and a new generation of actions will take place.
We'd like to extend our tremendous gratitude to Alec for taking the time out of his extremely busy schedule to guest curate our final award. To say Alec Soth is busy is an understatement; the first U.S. survey of Soth's work, From Here To There: Alec Soth's America opened yesterday at The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, to much anticipation and great excitement. Encompassing traditions of road photography, documentary work and a broad range of portraiture, the exhibition embraces the scope of Soth's practice, which seamlessly incorporates photography, video, sound and writing into inquiries and stories about life both in the middle-of, and on the fringes of, America.
Left: the exhibition catalog to From Here To There: Alec Soth's America; Right (top): Cemetery, Fountain City, Wisconsin 2002 by Alec Soth; (bottom): Broken Manual
Alec also has two new books out: the exhibition catalog, of the same name as the show and available for pre-order from the Walker Art Center, features more than 100 photographs made over the last fifteen years and a 48-page artist book by Soth titled The Loneliest Man in Missouri alongside essays by exhibition curator Siri Engberg, art historian Britt Salvesen and critic Barry Schwabsky. Broken Manual, Soth's newest and long-awaited publication, is also available as part of a special limited edition of 300 from Steidl. A culmination of works created around the United States from 2006-2010, Soth traveled the country capturing "the places in which people retreat to escape civilization." Each of the edition of 300 is signed and numbered, and housed inside another one-of-a-kind book that is cut by hand. These 300 unique editions will be included in the exhibition at the Walker, before being shipped to collectors in 2011.
If you are lucky enough to be in Minneapolis before January 2nd, we urge you to visit the Walker Art Center for Alec's exhibition. If you can't make it there, you can keep tabs on Alec and LBM's ventures by following their blog, Twitter and Tumblr. Soth also maintains a blog at the New York Times, Continental Picture Show, featuring photo and video from his adventures around the country, including the latest installation: Looking for Luck in South Texas.