Fishermen, Wickliffe, Kentucky

2002 · Photograph · 101.92 × 127.32 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Fishermen, Wickliffe, Kentucky” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 11 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the work

Alec Soth’s Sleeping by the Mississippi evolved from a series of documentary photos of the Mississippi river taken over a period of several years. The river acts as the binding structure between each of these photographs as he explores the relationship between the water and the people who live by it. Using an 8x10-inch view camera, the equipment’s slow process demands great patience and stillness, and trust between the photographer and subject. The resulting images can be seen as quiet and calm.

Read on

The series flows through an array of individuals, landscapes, and domestic settings. Soth has said that he hopes to spur feelings of isolation and longing in viewers as they examine the quiet eccentricity of the United States. Some see Sleeping by the Mississippi as having a poetic and adventurous drive to it, akin to the stories of Mark Twain’s famous literary character Huckleberry Finn, a boy who travels the Mississippi River on a raft with his friend Jim, an enslaved man. The images encourage meditation on the passage of time and place.

Minneapolis Institute of Art