Alec’s Work in W Magazine

April Edition of W

Alec stepped up to congratulate not one, but two Brians on their inclusion in this year’s PDN30. I offer my congratulations too! I love the PDN30 - it’s how I found Ben Donaldson initially, and many of the Hot Shots were PDN30 picks in the past as well.

Mr. Alec Soth himself has some congratulations due as well - he has a gorgeous 20 page spread in the new issue of W Magazine. It’s the April edition and it’s on newsstands now, in NYC at least. Alec shot local residents of a small town in Minnesota who were decked out in some fabulous big city couture. There are many awesome shots, none of which I could find online alas. You’ll just have to go pick up your own damn copy.

I knew the issue was coming soon, but I found out about it in a roundabout way. One of my regular online stops which sates my gossip obsession is the deliciously weird and bitchy and obsessively detailed Live Journal written by The Earl of Grey. He dissects Alec’s spread, focusing mostly on the clothes and lauding the W team’s ability to perform “so well in this unorthodox mission”:

it is a complete story, however unexpected the mission may have been. I may like this more than some of you. but i like it less than your usual great W model-centric lead edit. rating 7.3 of 10, the scenery/environmental locations still overshadow the non-models even with nickerson’s impressive fashion eye.

All his minuses are pluses in my book. One of the reason’s I love W is because they are not afraid to stray away from the traditional spread (and traditional fashion photographer choices) from time to time. It’s a lovely thing to behold on their over-sized pages.

Special bonus link: A video of Alec at work during the shoot, on Eric William Carroll’s blog.