A tribute to Eggleston
Back in the late sixties when the whole social scene was being turned upside down, a photographer named William Eggleston began to capture the imagination of American photography by recording images of exceedingly mundane everyday objects using color film. Monochrome was the medium of choice in professional photography at that time and color was considered suitable mostly for amateurs and family vacation photos. The color print films of that day were pretty awful. Remember ANSCO? At that time Eggleston’s work was considered very eccentric but today it would hardly raise an eyebrow. Ordinary mundane objects found in nondescript settings were recorded as if they were the Queen of England sitting for a royal portrait. An ordinary ceiling fan or child’s tricycle were presented as if they were an object of Van Gogh’s attention. I think Eggleston’s real goal was to thumb his nose at social convention and the fine arts crowd. He was at war with the obvious it is said. In so doing he opened the way for the rest of us to really see and be free in doing so. His work appears easy to imitate on the surface but beware. His imitators almost never capture his magic. He is still the undisputed king.
A tribute to Eggleston
Back in the late sixties when the whole social scene was being turned upside down, a photographer named William Eggleston began to capture the imagination of American photography by recording images of exceedingly mundane everyday objects using color film. Monochrome was the medium of choice in professional photography at that time and color was considered suitable mostly for amateurs and family vacation photos. The color print films of that day were pretty awful. Remember ANSCO? At that time Eggleston’s work was considered very eccentric but today it would hardly raise an eyebrow. Ordinary mundane objects found in nondescript settings were recorded as if they were the Queen of England sitting for a royal portrait. An ordinary ceiling fan or child’s tricycle were presented as if they were an object of Van Gogh’s attention. I think Eggleston’s real goal was to thumb his nose at social convention and the fine arts crowd. He was at war with the obvious it is said. In so doing he opened the way for the rest of us to really see and be free in doing so. His work appears easy to imitate on the surface but beware. His imitators almost never capture his magic. He is still the undisputed king.