Pho·tog Friday: William Eggleston

William Eggleston was born in 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee. As a young man, he was interested in playing the piano, drawing, and working with electronics. As a teenager, he became interested in media. Eggleston enjoyed purhcasing postcards and cutting out the photos in magazines.

Eggleston attended Vanderbilt University for a year, Delta State College for another year and the University of Mississippi for four years, none of these experiences resulted in a college degree. That being said, throughout his time spent at college, Eggleston became very interested in photography. A friend of his from Vanderbilt actually gave him his first Leica camera.

Inspired by the works of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eggleston began photographing downtown Memphis using a high-speed 35mm black and white film. Frank, a Swiss born photographer, is best known for his book titled The Americans and Cartier-Bresson is well known for The Decisive Moment. Both of these photographers were interested in capturing a moment and portraying a certain culture. Eggleston was interested in achieving a similar goal. The subject matter that Eggleston focused on was centered around diners, supermarkets, and domestic interiors. In the photographs that also include human subjects, the people tend to be involved in day-to-day activity:

Eggleston, William, From Before Color, n.d.

During the mid-1960s, Eggleston switched over to color film, which would later become his primary medium. He was none for his ability to push the limits of the film, resulting in vibrant colors. What made Eggleston unique was that his development as a photographer occurred mostly in isolation from other artists. In 1969, Eggleston had an interview with John Szarkowski of New York's Museum of Modern Art. Szarkowski described looking through Eggleston's portfolio as 'rooting through a suitcase of color prints'.

Eggleston, William, Downtown Moulton, Mississippi, 1969.

Eggleston took countless roadtrips from his hometown of Memphis to the West Coast from 1964 - 1968 as well as 1972 - 1974. These road trips were the driving force for a project idea Eggleston had; he wanted to produce 2,000 images and put them into a series of books; 20 volumes. Combined with landscapes and still-lifes that he came across during his travels, Eggleston photographed the lifestyle and culture of those living in the South. Eggleston abandoned the idea before it was complete and many of the negatives were never seen. In 2008, the negatives were rediscovered and printed as a series titled Los Alamos:

Eggleston, William, From Los Alamos 1964 - 1974.

Despite not having a college degree, Eggleston taught at Harvard in 1972 and 1973. During the time he spent at Harvard, he discovered dye-transfer printing. Eggleston recalled, "It advertised 'from the cheapest to the ultimate print.' The ultimate print was a dye-transfer. I went straight up there to look and everything I saw was commercial work like pictures of cigarette packs or perfume bottles but the color saturation and the quality of the ink was overwhelming. I couldn't wait to see what a plain Eggleston picture would look like with the same process. Every photograph I subsequently printed with the process seemed fantastic and each one seemed better than the previous one" (Eggleston "Ancient and Modern"). This particular printing process resulted in Eggleston's most electric work:

Eggleston, William, The Red Ceiling, 1973.

Eggleston has published many books throughout his career as a photographer: Election Eve (1976): Depicting images taken the night before President Ford's election. The Morals of Vision and Flowers were published in 1978. Wedgwood Blue and Seven were released in 1979; Troubled Waters, and The Louisiana Project in 1980. In 1984, Eggleston published William Eggleston's Graceland, which displayed a series of commissioned photographs taken of Elvis Presley's Graceland:

Eggleston, William, From William Eggleston's Graceland, 1984.

Other series published by Eggleston include The Democratic Forest (1989), Faulkner's Mississippi (1990) and Ancient and Modern (1992).

Eggleston, William, From Faulkner's Mississippi, 1990.

____________________________________________________________________________

01. "William Eggleston." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
02. "WILLIAM EGGLESTON." WILLIAM EGGLESTON. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

First Years' Focus & Fire

Disclaimer