Scot Sothern

Scot Sothern (born 1949) is an American photographer and writer best known for his controversial black and white photographs of prostitutes of Southern California, whom he photographed from 1986 to 1990. And again in 2010 when he began a photographing and writing about sex workers in Los Angeles Skid Row.^[1][2][3][4] Sothern says the photographs are exposés, but they don't just expose the women in them, they expose the artist behind the camera. "They show that I am who they are."^[5]

"Scot Sothern Makes this year's most controversial photobook" — The British Journal of Photography on Lowlife in 2011^[6]

"Scot Sothern has bravely and empathetically entered a hidden world of humanity. A place where the human condition bares itself on all levels. This penetrating book of photographs and text will haunt and challenge the viewer." — Roger Ballen

Biography

Scot Sothern, son of a portrait and wedding photographer in the Missouri Ozarks, spent 40 unsettled years hustling freelance photography in the US and abroad. His first solo exhibit, Lowlife, was held at the Drkrm Gallery in Los Angeles in 2010. His first book, Lowlife, was published in the U.K. by Stanley Barker in 2011 and as an ebook by powerHouse Books in 2013. The British Journal of Photography called Lowlife "The year's most controversial photobook." Curb Service: A Memoir, was published by Soft Skull Press in July 2013, (https://softskull.com/dd-product/curb-service/) and Streetwalkers was published by powerHouse Books in 2016.(http://www.powerhousebooks.com/books/streetwalkers-2/) Sothern has been in solo and group shows in NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles as well as Ottawa, London, Basel and Paris. In 2013 & 2014 Scot wrote fifty-two photo-illustrated columns for Vice Magazine: Sothern Exposure^[7] and Nocturnal Submissions.^[8] In 2017 Sothern's novel BigCity was published by Stalking Horse Press. https://www.stalkinghorsepress.com/product/bigcity-a-novel-scot-sothern/

Exhibitions

• 2018 The Door Gallery, Hollywood, CA. Group show and literary reading.
• 2018 Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, CA, Flesh & Stone, Paired Photos, Scot Sothern & Andy Romanoff. https://andyromanoff.zenfolio.com/fleshandstone.
• 2017 Noh/Wave Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, I AM a group exhibition, Vintage Prints and New Work. https://nohwaveevents.persona.co/i-am-opening.
• 2016, Little Big Man Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Streetwalkers, Vintage Prints.^[9]
• 2015, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL – Sad City - The Way We See It, Scot Sothern & Muir Vidler.^[10]
• 2010, DRKRM, Los Angeles, US.^[11]
• 2012, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.^[12][13]
• 2012, The Great Eastern Bear, London, UK.^[14]
• 2013, DRKRM, Los Angeles, US. A New Low.^[15]
• 2015, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, NYC. Lowlife, Vintage, 1985 – 1991.^[16]
• 2014, Photo LA – A New Low & Lowlife – drkrm Gallery
• 2013, Space Eight Gallery, St. Augustine, FL – Rise of the Art Dorks, group show.^[17]
• 2013, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL – Post Coital, group show.^[18]
• 2013, Balzer ART pr2ojects – Basel, Switzerland. Subversive Narratives, group show.^[19]
• 2012, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL – Explicit Content, group show.^[20]
• 2011 DRKRM Gallery, Los Angeles, Street Life, a group show.^[21]
• 2011 BC Space Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, Capital Crimes, a group show.^[22]
• 2010 New Puppy Gallery, Los Angeles, Framed Stories, group show.^[23]
• 1991 Marge Neikrug Gallery, NYC. Rated X, group show.https://www.google.com/search?q=Marge+Neikrug+Gallery,+NYC.+Rated+X,&client=firefox-b-1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ787FyuvdAhUEX60KHb4uCsIQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1485&bih=909

Bibliography

• Sothern, Scot. 2011. Lowlife. London: Stanley Barker ISBN 978-0-9569922-0-8.
• Sothern, Scot. 2013. Curb Service, a Memoir. Soft Skull Press ISBN 978-1593765200.
• Sothern, Scot. 2013. An American Lowlife, digital book. PowerHouse Books, ASIN:B00DZ1H2Z2
• Sothern, Scot. 2015 Sad CityStraylight Press ISBN:978-0-9939605}}
• Sothern, Scot. 2016. Streetwalkers. PowerHouse Books, ISBN 978-1576877616
• Sothern, Scot. 2017. Big City. Stalking Horse Press, ISBN 0997062975

References

24. https://littlebigmangallery.com/Scot-Sothern

External links

• Official Website
• "Virkelighetshunger" ("Reality Hunger"), interview in Natt&Dag, February 20, 2013 (in Norwegian).
• Interview on The Airship ("Follow Your Hard-On: An Interview with Scot Sothern", The Airship).
• Video Interview with Scot Sothern (Daniel Rolnik, August 18, 2013)
• Interview on GUP Magazine ("A New Low: An Interview with Scot Sothern", GUP Magazine, August 17, 2013).
• Interview on The Rumpus ("The Rumpus Interview with Scot Sothern", The Rumpus, January 15, 2014).
• Interview on L'Oeil de la Photographie ("Scot Sothern – Then and Now", L'Oeil de la Photographie, January 21, 2015).
• http://1985artists.com/artist/scot-sothern
• https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scot-sothern/curb-service/
• http://www.photoeye.com/magazine/reviews/2011/12_05_Lowlife.cfm
• https://issuemagazine.com/scot-sothern/#/ Issue Magazine 2017 Interview with Scot Sothern
• https://loeildelaphotographie.com/fr/scot-southern-sad-city/
• https://www.vice.com/en_us/topic/scot-sothern VICE - Sothern Exposure - Nocturnal Submissions