This two-part symposium (see also Feb. 6) explores new practices in documentary photography through the work of some of its most important contemporary practitioners. The first session is devoted to the work of Alec Soth. Soth (b. 1969) is a member of Magnum Photos. He rose to international prominence with the publication of his first monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, in 2004. A visual record of the people and things Soth encountered during his travels along the 2,300-mile river, it revealed Soth to be a new and important voice in the tradition of lyrical documentary developed by Walker Evans, Robert Frank, and others. Since then Soth has published NIAGARA (2006), Fashion Magazine (2007), Dog Days, Bogotá (2007) and The Last Days of W (2008), projects that have cemented his reputation of one of United States most important contemporary photographers. Soth's work is represented in major public and private collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and his photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. He is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York and Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis.