Two Towels 2004

Alec Soth made this photograph, “Two Towels,” and it's really a study in contrasts. The towels, so deliberately arranged into swans, sit on this bed with its floral pattern that feels almost chaotic in comparison. Soth's choice to photograph this scene straight-on gives it a kind of deadpan quality. He isn't trying to create drama or romance, but there's a tenderness in this image, in the way the towels are softly lit. There is an ambiguity to it, you know? The textures of the towels, the quilted bedspread, and the slightly worn wall paint all speak to a kind of lived-in reality. This image really reminds me of some of the interiors photographed by William Eggleston, capturing these overlooked, yet deeply evocative scenes from everyday life. In the end, it's all about seeing the world, one towel swan at a time.