I’ve always admired William Eggleston’s photographic eye. It has been said that he only takes one shot, because he doesn’t think anymore is necessary. In an age of do-over photos with our digital cameras, this concept amazes me-here is an artist who just gets it right every time he shoots.
I first saw his work over 15 years ago in the city and I admit, it was disappointing in both content and number of exhibited works. Which is why I highly recommend going to see the Whitney’s exhibit, entitled Democratic Camera-Eggleston’s first American retrospective. It tells the entire story of this southern artist’s journey from black and white photography to being one of the first artists to use color film for art and not commercial use(although this method was initially criticized).
This exhibit, which shows material Eggleston shot in the American south, also contains never before seen footage the artist shot in the 1970’s. The thing about his work that most amazes me besides the color, is the beauty captured in relatively ordinary objects.
A documentary shot in 2005 about Eggleston, which gives a rare and slightly sad insight to the artists life is “William Eggleston in the Real World“. I highly recommend seeing before you attend the exhibit, it gives the meaning of the photos a whole new understanding to the man behind the lens.