William Eggleston facts for kids

William Eggleston, born on July 27, 1939, is a famous American photographer. He is widely known for helping people see color photography as a true art form. His important photo books include William Eggleston's Guide (1976) and The Democratic Forest (1989).

Eggleston has received many honors for his work. These include a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1974, the Hasselblad Award in 1998, and an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2003.

Early Life and Education

William Eggleston was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew up in Sumner, Mississippi. His father was an engineer, and his mother was the daughter of a well-known local judge. As a boy, Eggleston was quiet. He enjoyed playing the piano, drawing, and working with electronics. From a young age, he loved looking at pictures. He often bought postcards and cut out images from magazines.

At age 15, Eggleston went to the Webb School. This was a boarding school. Eggleston later said he did not have many good memories of the school. He felt it had strict rules that were supposed to "build character." He thought it was a harsh place where liking music and painting was seen as unusual. Eggleston was different from other boys his age. He preferred art and observing the world instead of hunting or sports. Even so, he felt like he fit in.

Eggleston attended Vanderbilt University for one year. He also went to Delta State College for a semester. Then he spent about five years at the University of Mississippi. However, he did not finish a degree at any of these schools. His interest in photography began when a friend at Vanderbilt gave him a Leica camera. He also learned about abstract expressionism from a visiting painter named Tom Young at the University of Mississippi.

Developing as an Artist

Eggleston's first photos were inspired by Swiss photographer Robert Frank. He was also influenced by French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson's book, The Decisive Moment. Eggleston later said this book was the first serious one he found. He did not understand it at first, but then it made sense to him. He realized it was a great book.

Eggleston first took pictures in black-and-white. He started trying out color in 1965 and 1966. This happened after William Christenberry showed him how. Color transparency film became his main way of taking photos in the late 1960s. Eggleston mostly developed his photography skills on his own. In 1969, John Szarkowski from MoMA saw Eggleston's work. He was very impressed. Szarkowski convinced MoMA to buy one of Eggleston's color photographs.

In 1970, William Christenberry introduced Eggleston to Walter Hopps. Hopps was the director of the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C. Hopps later said he was "stunned" by Eggleston's photos. He had never seen anything like them.

Eggleston taught at Harvard in 1973 and 1974. During this time, he found out about dye-transfer printing. He saw it on a price list at a photo lab. Eggleston said the lab advertised it as "the ultimate print." He saw examples of commercial work, like pictures of cigarette packs. But the colors and ink quality were amazing. He wanted to see what his own photos would look like with this process. He felt that every photo he printed with dye-transfer looked fantastic.

The dye-transfer process helped create some of Eggleston's most famous works. One example is his 1973 photograph called The Red Ceiling. Eggleston said this photo was very powerful. He felt that when you saw the dye, it looked like "red blood that's wet on the wall."

At Harvard, Eggleston put together his first collection of photos. It was called 14 Pictures (1974). Eggleston's work was shown at MoMA in 1976. This show was a very important moment in photography history. It helped color photography become accepted as a serious art form.

Around the time of his 1976 MoMA show, Eggleston met Viva. She was a famous person from Andy Warhol's group. They started a long friendship. Being around Warhol's group might have helped Eggleston develop his idea of the "democratic camera." This idea means that any everyday subject can be interesting to photograph. In the 1970s, Eggleston also tried making videos. He created hours of footage he called Stranded in Canton. A writer named Richard Woodward described it as a "home movie." It showed tender moments with his children mixed with other scenes. Woodward suggested the film showed Eggleston's "fearless naturalism." This means he believed that by patiently looking at things others ignore, interesting things can be seen.

Eggleston has published many books and collections of his photos. These include Los Alamos (completed 1974), William Eggleston's Guide (1976), and The Democratic Forest (1989). He also photographed the set of John Huston's film Annie (1982). He documented the making of David Byrne's film True Stories (1986).

Some of his early photo series were not shown until much later. The Nightclub Portraits (1973) were mostly shown in 2005. Lost and Found was part of his Los Alamos series. These photos were unseen for decades. They showed road trips Eggleston took with Walter Hopps.

In 2017, an album of Eggleston's music was released. It was called Musik. It has 13 "experimental electronic soundscapes." These are often dramatic improvisations based on music by Bach and Handel. He also included his own versions of a Gilbert and Sullivan song and a jazz tune. Musik was made using a 1980s Korg synthesizer. It was recorded onto floppy disks.

Eggleston's Style

Eggleston's later work is known for showing ordinary things. As writer Eudora Welty said, an Eggleston photo might show "old tires, Dr. Pepper machines, discarded air-conditioners, vending machines, empty and dirty Coca-Cola bottles." It could also include "torn posters, power poles and power wires, street barricades, one-way signs, detour signs, No Parking signs, parking meters, and palm trees."

Eudora Welty believed that Eggleston saw the beauty in everyday things. She said his photos show "the grain of the present, like the cross-section of a tree." They focus on the normal world. But she added that "no subject is fuller of implications than the mundane world!" Mark Holborn wrote that Eggleston's photos of ordinary scenes can have a hidden feeling of danger. American artist Edward Ruscha said that when you see an Eggleston picture, you step into "some kind of jagged world that seems like Eggleston World."

Art Market and Value

In 2012, 36 of Eggleston's larger prints were sold. These prints were 40 by 66 inches (102 by 168 cm). They sold for $5.9 million at an auction. This money went to the Eggleston Artistic Trust. This group works to protect the artist's work. One photo, Untitled 1970, set a new record. It sold for $578,000. This was the highest price ever for a single print by the photographer at auction.

Later, a New York art collector filed a lawsuit against Eggleston. The collector said that selling oversized versions of famous images made the original prints less rare. This could lower their value. However, the court later dismissed the lawsuit.

Photos in Notable Publications

Eggleston's art was first used on album covers for the Memphis band Big Star. He recorded for their album Third/Sister Lovers. His photo The Red Ceiling was used on their album Radio City. Eggleston's photo of dolls on a Cadillac hood was on the cover of the Alex Chilton album Like Flies on Sherbert. The Primal Scream album Give Out But Don't Give Up features a cropped photo by Eggleston. His photos were also used for the covers of Terry Manning's album Christopher Idylls (1994). His photo "Memphis (1968)" was the cover for Jimmy Eat World's album Bleed American (2001).

In 2006, an Eggleston image was used for the cover of Primal Scream's single "Country Girl." It was also on the paperback cover of Ali Smith's novel The Accidental. The same picture had been used on Chuck Prophet's Age of Miracles album in 2004.

Eggleston's photos also appear on Tanglewood Numbers by the Silver Jews. They are on Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band by Joanna Newsom. His work is also on Transference by Spoon and Delta Kream by the Black Keys.

Films About William Eggleston

Documentary Appearances

• William Eggleston in the Real World (2005), by Michael Almereyda.
• By the Ways: A Journey with William Eggleston (2007), directed by Vincent Gérard and Cédric Laty.
• The Colourful Mr. Eggleston (2009), an episode of Imagine (TV series) for BBC One.
• The Source (2012), by Doug Aitken.
• Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (2013), directed by Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori.

Movie and Series Appearances

• Great Balls of Fire (1989), Eggleston played Jerry Lee Lewis's father, Elmo Lewis.
• Restless (2011), he appeared as an x-ray technician.
• Today (TV Series) (episode dated 31 May 2011), he appeared as himself.
• Sunday Morning (A Father and Daughter's Artistic Collaboration, 2016).

Music Albums by William Eggleston

• Musik (Secretly Canadian, 2017) – produced by Tom Lunt.
• 512 (Secretly Canadian, 2023) – produced by Tom Lunt.

Exhibitions of His Work

• 1999–2000: William Eggleston and the Color Tradition, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
• 2001–2002: William Eggleston, Fondation Cartier, Paris. Also shown at Hayward Gallery, London.
• 2002: documenta 11, Kassel, Germany.
• 2002: William Eggleston: Los Alamos, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany. This show traveled to many places through 2005.
• 2008: William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video 1961–2008, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. This show also traveled to other major museums.
• 2012: New Dyes, Rose Gallery, Santa Monica, California.
• 2016: William Eggleston: Selections from the Wilson Centre for Photography, Portland Art Museum, Portland.
• 2016: William Eggleston Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London.
• 2017: William Eggleston: Los Alamos, Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.
• 2023: William Eggleston . Mystery of the Ordinary, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
• 2024/2025: William Eggleston The Last Dyes, David Zwirner Gallery, Los Angeles.

Awards and Honors

• 1974: Guggenheim Fellowship.
• 1975: Photographer's Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
• 1978: Survey Grant, National Endowment for the Arts.
• 1989: "54 Master Photographers of 1960-1979" Award, Photographic Society of Japan.
• 1995: Distinguished Achievement Award, University of Memphis.
• 1998: Hasselblad Award, Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden.
• 2003: Special 150th Anniversary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS), Royal Photographic Society, London.
• 2004: Getty Images Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Center of Photography (ICP).
• 2013: Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award, Sony World Photography Awards, World Photography Organisation, London.

Where His Work is Kept

Eggleston's photographs are part of many public collections. These include:

• Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
• J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA.
• Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
• Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City.
• International Photography Hall of Fame, St.Louis, MO.

See also

In Spanish: William Eggleston para niños