Cozy or minimalistic, sterile or chaotic? A home says a lot about the person who lives in it. This was also recognized by US photographer Alec Soth - for his new photo book "I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating" he entered private havens of people all over the world.

With these intimate shots, Soth not only succeeds in highlighting the special features of the furniture - but also in conveying the emotional world and character of his models: Soth, for example, shows the elderly Mr. Leopold sitting on his retro sofa. If he wore a shirt, the observer would probably have the impression that it was a normal senior citizen. But Leopold's bare torso is painted, full of old-fashioned sailor tatters. Immediately new associations open up for the viewer: Does the grief in his view tell of missing the expanse of the sea?

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Alec Soth: Chaotic, sterile, colorful

Another photo seems to depict puzzling contradictions directly: The Berlin-based Yuko is a splash of color in her completely white room with her yellow, short hair and the extravagant, mustard-colored dress. But though her looks are more or less courageous, she stands in empty space with a downcast expression and in a crooked pose.

In part, Soth does not even show the residents, but only scanned their furnishings. But even the void always betrays something, and therefore makes you curious. Who is the woman who piled her books on the shelf, in front of a wall that is riddled with cracks and brown, wet patches? Does she feel comfortable in this filthy environment? On the other hand, it becomes quite clear what the priorities of the baseball fan, who lives in the brown floral wallpaper room: While he has accurately hung pennants, posters and maps of his favorite club on the wall, he throws boxes, papers and blankets carelessly on the sofa and floor.

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I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating

Publishing company:

Mack

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EUR 55,00

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No home showing Soth in his photo book is like the other. This is different from his previous works. Although Soth has always portrayed people with a pinch of melancholy, he also captured private moments - for example, couples in bed. But so far the distracted had more and more in common: In his first photo book "Sleeping by the Mississippi", with which he became internationally known in 2004, he drew on a road trip along the Mississippi a picture of American life, looking for the similarities within a nation.

His new approach, showing intimate rapprochement between great differences between human lives, is the result of a one-year creative break: After a "mystical experience" in meditating, as he puts it himself, Soth considered his way of working. For over a year he stopped traveling, stayed home and did not take pictures of people.

In an interview with US journalist Hanya Yanagihara, part of the band, Soth says his idea may sound boring to many: "Portraits and facilities do not sound as sexy as a trip along the Mississippi River." But he did not want to push his models into specific poses anymore, rather look closely. The fact that he focuses more on what people offer on their own is also reflected in his new photos, which in fact are not boring at all: they look simple, calm and natural. With a touch of poetry.

The photo book "I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating" is flanked by four exhibitions in Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Berlin. The exhibition takes place in Berlin until April 18th at the Galerie Loock.