MEDIA

INTERACT

COMMENTS

08/01/08

Text: Nik Mercer

Regular i-D and Vice contributor, Peter Sutherland, is releasing his new book, Muddy Treads, on August 14 through Seems Books.

The New Yorker is renowned for his ability to incorporate documentary photography techniques into the capturing of the mundane and ordinary, somehow making all his subjects beautiful and appealing in the process. He's been shown in both group and solo exhibitions over the years, has contributed to arty publications like Arkitip, and is generally a very well-versed, cool dude.

L.A.'s Family will be hosting a nice release party to showcase the contents of the volume. Sutherland himself will be conducting a slide show, will show movie clips explaining the making of his work, and answer questions the attendants might have at a followup Q&A. Better yet, one-hundred signed and limited posters featuring one of the man's pieces will be given away!

But what is Muddy Treads about, exactly? Apparently, while still a junior high school student, Sutherland and friends would go to a sort of no-man's land they dubbed "The Hills." The uninhabited, unsafe woodland was filled with nasty underbrush, creaky trees, barren fields, and random found objects (i.e. a Jeep that eight stoners came upon). The whole place is strangely reminiscent of "[t]he entire state of Alaska," although the icy forty-ninth "feels like a more pristine, grown- up version of one of those areas and everything about it is just a bit too rugged and crazy for the masses."

Muddy Treads finds inspiration in "The Hills" of Sutherland's childhood, although the shots weren't taken there. "Many of the photos in this book were taken in Alaska. The others are from California, Colorado, Utah, and Vermont," he says.

Book Launch for Muddy Treads

Los Angeles, CA 90036