Alec Soth - Frank Relle

At first glance, there are many apparent, aesthetic differences between the two photographers' works. Obviously their subjects greatly differ from one another, but I am slightly convinced their processes may be very closely related. What I mean by this is the time both photographers physically spend photographing chosen subject. Frank Relle's images are clearly taken during the night time and in many instances the sky reveals the lengthy exposure times he uses. Alec Soth on the other hand is using a large format field camera, which rules out any type of surveillance or "snap shot" photography. Therefore, it is implied that he spent a decent amount of time setting up the camera and the composition with the subjects being fully aware. I imagine Soth spends at least the same amount of time composing his images, as it does for Relle to expose one of his images. This is merely an observation and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

As far as the subject matter goes, I think there are at least a few connections between the two:

Relle seems to focus on some form of structural decay and attempts to transform it into a beautiful image. I think Relle possibly attempts to bring in a sense of a decaying community or society, with several of the images being of rather nice, inhabited homes, but I think he fails to do so, if indeed he was trying to do so, due to the sheer scale of visual repetition in this series.

Alec Soth however, seems to focus on a decay of another sort, which I keep leaning toward saying societal, or relational. His subjects are often singular, with very few exceptions, and seemingly detached from society. In some cases he has even photographed objects themselves that tend to be associated with loneliness. This idea of detachment, or decay, also exemplifies itself within the images in the series as a whole, as it is a struggle to find the relationship between each of them.