William Eggleston is a Memphis born photographer who was raised in Sumner, Mississippi. Eggleston never earned a college degree, but during this time became extremely interested in photography. He was given a Leica camerea by a friend in college, which helped to spark his interest. Eggleston discovered the process of dye-transfer printing while teaching at Harvard (1973-74). He loves the striking, saturated colors that were created in his photographs and continued to use this process throughout much of his extended work. His work, called 14 Pictures, was made into an exhibition at the MoMA in 1976 and was a major moment in history for color photography. Eggleston was the first person to singlehandedly hold an exhibition in color photography at the MoMA. Many of his series can be viewed as photographic scenes from home movies, capturing people and subjects in their natural settings. He forces the viewer to look at every day objects and situations, to see them in a different, more exciting light.
His use of color is amazing. The colors in every photograph are so vibrant and enticing that my eye was immediately drawn to his work. His saturated images delightfully vary in subject from dilapidated road signs to carnival rides to the interesting shots of individuals. A lot of his work is very high contrast, which is a style that I find to be personally appealing. His camera angles are interesting in that they crop and capture parts of a subject that are somewhat abstract (the carnival ride), and gives his work even more of a visual interest.
http://www.egglestontrust.com/
Posted by Kim Steinhilber
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