Niagara

In this, the follow-up to Alec Soth’s critically acclaimed debut monograph Sleeping by the Mississippi, Soth turns his eye to another iconic body of water, Niagara Falls. But, as with his photos of the Mississippi, Soth’s pictures of Niagara are less about natural wonder than human desire. Soth depicts newlyweds, naked lovers, motel parking lots and pawnshop wedding rings alongside love letters from his subjects: we read of teenage crushes, workplace affairs, heartbreak and suicide. “I went to Niagara for the same reason as the honeymooners and suicide jumpers,” says Soth, “the relentless thunder of the falls just calls for big passion.”