Niagara is one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in North America, and in 2006, documentary photographer Alec Soth released a photobook, as well as pictures and ephemera (such as letters sent to lovers) that he had taken and collected on both the American and Canadian sides of Niagara. What emerges is an image of a place that in reality was in economic decline and pretty bleak; hardly the image of idealized love and romance. Soth unwittingly hit on the beginning of the end of the American dream, presenting an emotive portrait that becomes increasingly dark and broken, where love can becomes embittered. Works from Soth’s Niagara series are presented as part of The Body Observed: Magnum Photos at the Sainsbury Centre, from 23 March.
