Scot Sothern
| Scot Sothern | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1949 Pittsburg, Kansas |
| Years active | 1964–present |
"Scot Sothern Makes this year's most controversial photobook"
Scot Sothern (born 1949) is an American photographer and writer mostly known for his controversial black and white photographs of prostitutes of Southern California, whom he photographed from 1986 to 1990.[2][3][4][5] Sothern says the photographs are exposés, but they don't just expose the women in them, they expose the artist behind the camera.
Biography
Leaving home and formal education at seventeen, in the 1960s, Sothern spent thirty-seven unsettled years hustling freelance photography. He worked in department stores, churches, bowling alleys, sports events and high school proms. He worked in a cave at a tourist-trap in Missouri, making and selling photo mementos. Traveling with a portable studio, knocking door-to-door in suburban America, he made and sold children's portraits. He shot model's portfolios, head-shots, and nude magazine layouts. He spent three years in Tallahassee, Florida, with a photography studio and three seasons with a high school yearbook studio in Los Angeles, and has been employed in three different cities as a darkroom technician.
In 1983, in Saudi Arabia, Sothern made industrial training films and photographed the disappearing Bedouin tribes. He worked as an optical camera operator in Los Angeles and New York City. He photo-illustrated a series of magazine stories including "Shopping For God: Religious Cults in America". These essays were represented by both the Black Star and Onyx Photo agencies and published worldwide. Forced into commercial retirement by the crippling by-product of a motorcycle mishap, he now writes books and has continued making photographs.
In 2010, Sothern's first solo exhibit, "LOWLIFE", was at the Drkrm Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2011, Lowlife, the book, photos and text, was published in the UK by Stanley Barker.
Exhibitions
- 2010, DRKRM, Los Angeles, US.[6]
- 2012, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa, Canada.[7][8]
- 2012, The Great Eastern Bear, London, UK.[9]
Bibliography
- Scot, Sothern. 2011. Lowlife. London: Stanley Barker ISBN 978-0-9569922-0-8.
References
- ↑ Therawmaterials.me: Lowlife by Scot Sothern makes its UK debut at the Great Eastern Bear by DRKRM Gallery, 2011
- ↑ Vice.com: SCOT SOTHERN HOPES YOU HATE HIS PHOTOS OF PROSTITUTES 20.05.2012
- ↑ Charlatan.ca: American photographer has Canadian debut at La Petite Mort 25.09.2012
- ↑ Beautifuldecay.com: scot-sothern-shot-prostitutes-with-a-camera 22.05.2012
- ↑ Dangerousminds.net: LOWLIFE: THE POWERFUL AND COMPELLING PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCOT SOTHERN 21.05.2012
- ↑ Drkrm.com: SCOT SOTHERN: Lowlife Photographs and Literary Vignettes 2011
- ↑ Charlatan.ca: American photographer has Canadian debut at La Petite Mort 25.09.2012
- ↑ Peter Simpson, "Nothing pretty here", Ottawa Citizen, September 6, 2012.
- ↑ Greateasternbear.com: Lowlife
External links
- www.scotsothern.com
- "Virkelighetshunger" ("Reality Hunger"), interview in Natt&Dag, February 20, 2013 (in Norwegian).