William Eggleston
EXPO CHICAGO ‘23
William Eggleston was instrumental in establishing color photography as an art form and spurring the art world’s recognition of the medium. Though a student at Vanderbilt University, Delta State College, and the University of Mississippi, school was a low priority for him, choosing instead to focus on the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Walker Evans. He began his career with black-and-white images, but soon abandoned them for color photography, capturing the beauty and monumentality of the ordinary so that the real subject was color itself.
Untitled (Berlin), c-print, 10.75x7”, 1983
Untitled (Waterford, Mississippi), c-print, 6x9”, 1983
Villa Hapsburg, c-print, 13x19.25”, 1986
Untitled (Gumball Machines), c-print, 7x10.75”, 1986
Untitled (snacks), c-print, 12x18”, 1986
By 1976 Eggleston
had been photographing in color for over a decade and experimented with color transparency and dye transfer, creating a portfolio of c-prints, dye transfer photographs, and pigment prints. He published a number of portfolios, photographed several film sets, and completed album covers while continuing to focus on ordinary life in his hometown, elevating the everyday to an idealized, monumental form in saturated color. He continues to live and work in Memphis.