On my Bookshelf | Sage Sohier – Passing Time

On my Bookshelf

In this column, I occasionally present a photo book that is close to my heart. It is not – or not necessarily – a new publication. It is simply a book that somehow fell into my hands and that I would like to recommend to others. And yes – of course it’s on my bookshelf.

It’s a bit of a continuation of my Photo book of the month column – just not necessarily as regular as before. And I’ve generally made the column a bit shorter and tighter. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Prologue

Today I’m introducing you to a book that I’ve actually only owned for a few weeks. To be honest, I’ve only known the photographer herself for a fairly short time – shame on me! I discovered her and her work in some videos by Matt Day on YouTube, who is a big fan of the photographer. One of them is a very interesting interview with Sage Sohier herself. 

I myself can share Matt’s enthusiasm so much that I bought not one but two of Sage Sohier’s books. And I am very impressed. As I wanted to bring you more about contemporary artists on the one hand and female photographers on the other, I decided to publish this review earlier than an already planned one. But that will also come in the next few weeks…

About the Photographer | Sage Sohier

Sage Sohier, born in 1954 in Washington D.C. (as far as I know), is a US-American photographer and university lecturer. She graduated with a B.A. from Harvard University and began taking photographs in the 1970s. In addition to her own photography, she has taught photography and visual and environmental studies for many years at various educational institutions, including Harvard, Wessley College and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Since the 1980s, she has realised some longer projects and has published eight books to date. She describes herself as being influenced by photographers such as Diane Arbus, Gary Winogrand and Lee Freelander. She is known for her complex environmental portraits of ordinary Americans, often from the working class, ethnic communities, or children and young people in their neighbourhoods. 

About the Photo Book | Passing Time

‘Passing Time’, published by Nazraeli Press in 2023, is the latest book by Sage Sohier.

It shows a series of pictures from 1979 to 1985. During the pandemic, Sage Sohier took the time to go through her negative archives to find material for this book. And she has more than succeeded. Thematically, the book deals – as the title suggests – with typical scenes and insights, especially of young people in the world of the 1980s. 

‘Passing Time’ presents 57 of these photos on 76 large-format pages on fine Japanese Kasadaka art paper and is bound in red-brown linen.

What I like about it

I don’t even know where to start. However, because I had decided to make this column a little crisper, I am focussing mainly on two things here.

The time

Firstly, I am old enough to have experienced the time period portrayed in the book myself, including as a child and as a teenager. Of course, I didn’t grow up in the US, but there are still some similarities between childhood there and here. Being outside, especially on hot summer days. That mixture of boredom and the search for adventure in a pre-digital age – in the streets, between the cars and houses or in the forest. This preoccupation with everyday things, making a fire, putting things together, playing football or just hanging around. It’s sensational what these pictures trigger in me too. No mobile phones, no internet, no computer games, not much money and not a million options for what you could do.

These pictures literally draw me into their spell and press the nostalgic button in my personal world of feelings.

The (gorgeous) compositions

Secondly, I don’t want to forget the purely photographic side either. In addition to Sohier’s obvious interest in her surroundings and the people she photographs, the images are also compositionally complex and magnificent. She is a master of (at least) two things, which I recently discussed in more detail in my review of Alex Webb’s book ‘The Suffering of Light’. And these are: ‘use layers’ and “fill the frame”.

In her pictures, it is not only obvious that the word ‘bokeh’ was a foreign word at the time, and not just linguistically. Many of her pictures tell far more than just one story. Wonderful subplots and little side stories are ‘hidden’ in various layers and parts of the picture. And in my opinion – as with Webb – this is not coincidental, but the photographer composed these pictures with attention to detail. Faces and people that are meant to be seen are seen – they are not accidentally hidden in the chaos of a photo. 

Sage Sohier mostly used a wide-angle lens and apertures between 11 and 16 for her pictures – she also often used a flash.

Back then I wanted everything to be sharp and visible.

Sage Sohier

And don’t forget the humour…

Oh yes, and one more thing should not go unmentioned. In many of her pictures, Sage Sohier demonstrates a good dose of humour and a wonderfully ironic view of life and the protagonist. 🙂

About photographing people

As you can see from the photos, she never operated hidden or from a distance. To take these pictures, Sage Sohier naturally had to get close to people – and almost always interact with them. Those who have tried it know how difficult it can be sometimes. But the courage and the effort are worth it!

Intruding on people’s personal space could feel awkward, and was never easy to do, but most of the time it seemed that my enthusiasm was contagious and people were able to relax and be themselves.

Sage Sohier

Finally, here are a few more impressions from this wonderful book.

What else can I recommend?

Do you like ‘Passing Time’ or Sage Sohier’s photography in general? Then I can warmly recommend the book ‘Americans Seen’ to you. This is perhaps her best-known book – apart from ‘At Home With Themselves’, I would say. And the best thing is that the work, originally published in 2017, was reissued in 2024 in a remastered print – also by Nazraeli Press. Like ‘Passing Time’, however, it is initially only available in a limited-edition of 1000 copies – so you shouldn’t wait too long.

Some final words

One thing – not only about this book – is still very important to me, though. As with so many other pictures, you have to realise that they could not be made in the same way today. And not just because the world looks different – that’s not what I mean. But in our multimedia and networked world, photography is no longer so informal. And in Europe – especially in Germany – this would be even more practically impossible. Just taking pictures of children and publishing them is highly problematic – in fact, it’s hardly possible. Things like the ‘right to one’s own image’ or the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) make this virtually impossible.

There are certainly good reasons for this and discussing it would open up a huge can of worms. Nevertheless, I also see it as a loss… personally, photographically, socially and documentary. I just wanted to say…

I will always be grateful to the people pictured here – not just for allowing me to spend time making pictures of them – but also for how these interactions informed and enriched my life.

Sage Sohier