On the occasion of the exhibition Two Rivers by photographers Joachim Brohm and Alec Soth at the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf (29 March to 7 July 2019), Koenig Books publishes a very beautiful catalog. The latter focuses on Alec Soth’s series Sleeping by the Missisippi (2000-2004) and Joachim Brohm’s Ruhr series (1980-1983), both of which feature people along the river. Brohm, who studied at the Folkwang Hochschule, is a visual artist who expresses himself through photography. Soth is a lyrical documentary photographer in the tradition of Robert Frank, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld. A documentary-artistic vision unites the two photographers, and distinguishes them as sensitive documentarians from their social environment. A selection of works from other series is also featured in the catalog, such as Ohio, Culatra and excerpts from Brohm’s new project, Dessau Files, as well as Alec Soth’s Songbook and Niagara, and provides a view of wider works of both photographers. Brohm’s Flash Ohio portrait series, first published exactly 35 years after its inception, also occupies a special place in the book.
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