William Eggleston: Mystery of the Ordinary

William Eggleston: Mystery of the Ordinary
Category: Photographer Monographs & Art Books
Reviews: star star star star star
Author: William Eggleston, Felix Hoffmann
Publisher: Steidl
Publication Date: 2023
Print Length: 208 pages
Language: English
Price: paid paid paid

A handsome overview of Eggleston’s evolution and legacy, from the early black-and-white work to his pioneering adventures in color.

Although the first universal color slide film came onto the market in 1935, it was reserved for the world of advertising, and as late as the 1980s it was still considered commercial, vulgar and unartistic. Despite this, from the 1960s onward, more and more photographers began to discover the creative possibilities of the medium. William Eggleston, whose career has spanned over five decades, not only substantially contributed to this paradigm shift; he also noticeably influenced many subsequent generations. Along with Saul Leiter, Evelyn Hofer and Stephen Shore, Eggleston was one of the first photographers to recognize the distinctive power of color and its unique capacity to create pictures that continuously challenge the everyday. He imbued banality with the uncanny and mysterious, investigating his immediate surroundings again and again―as if he were somehow suspicious of the contents of his freezer, the ketchup bottle on the diner counter, not to mention the guns that appear as if by chance in so many of his pictures. Mystery of the Ordinary captures the full scope of Eggleston’s evolution and legacy: from the early black-and-white work of the late 1950s, in which we witness his discovery and exploration of themes and unconventional croppings, to some of his most iconic color images.

Selected Books by This Photographer

William Eggleston: Chromes

2022 - Steidl

William Eggleston


William Eggleston: Election Eve

2017 - Steidl

William Eggleston


The Democratic Forest

2015 - Steidl

William Eggleston


From Black and White to Colour

2014 - Steidl

William Eggleston


At Zenith

2014 - Steidl

William Eggleston


Los Alamos Revisited

2012 - Steidl

William Eggleston


William Eggleston, 2 1/4

2008 - Twin Palms Publishers

William Eggleston

 

William Eggleston's Guide

2002 - The Museum of Modern Art

William Eggleston, John Szarkowski

 

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