William Eggleston Mattie Lee

About
William Joseph Eggleston
- 1939-
- “Spouse” - Rosa Kate Dossett (1941-2015)
- Eggleston would be considered a playboy type who continuously had
extramarital affairs but RKD was fine with it.
- Children: Andra, Winston and William Jr.
- First was disliked but never did stop his art
- First color photograph in 1965
 Eggleston 1993

Untitled (Self Portrait)

 Impact on Photography
Eggleston is the father of modern day photography
- Serious photography was in black and white, had no abstract idea
- “Color is vulgar” (Walker Evans 1969) way of art

Introduced vivid, colorful photos of everyday

objects
 Style
- Colorful
- Takes one shot of his subject
- Subjects typically everyday item or sight
- “Opposite of rational method”
- According to Artsy: “inconsequential moments in the American South,
captured in such a manner that the colors practically glow”
 The Grocery Boy
-golden, clean colors
-very few distractions
- just glare coming off woman’s glasses
- feels very comfortable
-impeccably framed
 Peaches!
- Vivid colors
- Very bright
- Sky almost ethereal
- Familiar sight
- Only distraction is in bottom left
corner
 Photo 3
- Intimate
- Girls pop due to being in color
- No distractions
- Shows the familiarity of a relationship
between friends
Quotes
● I don't have a burning desire to go out and document anything. It just
happens when it happens. It's not a conscious effort, nor is it a
struggle. Wouldn't do it if it was. The idea of the suffering artist has
never appealed to me. Being here is suffering enough.

● We have a few things in common - smoking, drinking, and women.

Photography just gets us out of the house. (To photographer Juergen
Teller)

● There is no particular reason to search for meaning.

● I am at war with the obvious.

 The Important Facts
In brief summary:
- Eggleston is a man who could be considered a new Hugh Hefner
- But he was loyal to his wife and family
- Rejected the ideas of his parents plans for him
- Started color photography in a time it was not considered serious
- Takes “everyday” and makes it magical
- Does this all in shooting his subject once
- And without the viewfinder mostly
- Composes with color
- Images lose integrity when in black and white
- Meaning is usually very obvious
 Works Cited
Belcove, Julie L. "William Eggleston." W Magazine, vol. 42, no. 11, Nov. 2008, p. 326. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cus
tuid&custid=s8455861&db=f6h&AN=35478561&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Cunningham, John M. "William Eggleston." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27

Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Editorial, Artsy, and Abigail Cain. "What You Need to Know about William Eggleston." Artsy. N.p., 22 July
2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.
HEILPERN, JOHN. "Out to Lunch with WILLIAM EGGLESTON." Vanity Fair, vol. 50, no. 12, Dec. 2015,
p. 121. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&uthType=ip,custuid&custid=s8455861&db=f6h&AN=11
0930082&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Jones, Malcolm. "William Eggleston: The Father of Modern Color Photography." Daily Beast (New
York), 03 Nov. 2016, p. 1. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,custuid&custid=s8455861&db=f6h&AN=1
19255506&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Lacayo, Richard. "Light Fantastic." Time, vol. 172, no. 19, 11/10/2008 The Choice, pp. 121-123.
EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,custuid&custid=s8455861&db=a9h&AN=3
5052144&site=ehost-live&scope=site.