William Eggleston

William Eggleston, born in Memphis, USA in 1939, has, for almost fifty years, photographed his fascination and disdoin for everyday American civilisation. His work focuses on what he sees as the captivating banality of the Southern states, where the desire, alienation and solitude of everyday life become extraordinary, thanks to his rare sense of detail.  Of course William Eggleston didn’t ‘invent’ color photography, as John Szarkowski once stated somewhat provocatively. But he did facilitate the breakthrough of color photography in the museum context.  (more…)