OT William Eggleston. Guide

[terry_rory]

I am in a book buying mood. (And in need of a little inspiration)

 

I have been a fan of Martin Parr for many years and have many of his

books in first edition. I enjoyed Richard Billingham's "Ray's a

laugh". I loved "Shipping forecasr" by Mark Power.

 

A copy of British Journal of Photography this week (recommended by

some very kind PN Leica Forum contributor recently) introduced me to

Nigel Shafran and I have his book (1992 - 2004) on order.

 

In the course of researching Nigel Shafran I came across William

Eggleston's pictures, specifically his book "Guide" which was re-

published in 2002.

 

I love what I have seen so far but they are only snippets on the web.

 

Please forgive me for being an ignorant Brit who has skipped over

Eggleston related threads (or to whom Eggleston references were

meaningless previously) but I need to know from you if this a great

work or not.

 

My interest is piqued.

 

Although he is/was a Leica photographer this is not really why I am

interested.

 

Could you give me your thoughts on Egglestons work?

 

Thanks.

[jorge]

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009VZD">A rather long Eggleston thread</a>.

[jorge]

PS, Trevor, buy the book. You will feel much better about your own work after you digest it... Now that I think of it, I think it's an ego booster.

[stephen_jones4]

I don't think he used Leica cameras. I have the book in question - it's one of the few books that I own that I would hate to part with. He is a wonderful story teller - the image of the young boy lying down in a garage with a bicycle behind (the front wheel of which is turned against itself) is an astonishing picture. I saw an exhibition of his work, paired with an Ansel Adams retrospective: it took my breath away. Supposedly, some people don't understand his work at all: I don't really believe that they can be trying very hard. (ho ho)

[jorge]

Recently (and some not so recently) read photo books that I liked:

<br><br>

Elliott Erwitt: Personal Exposures.<br>

Elliott Erwitt: Snaps.<br>

Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Cien años, cien días.<br>

What was true: The photographs and Notebooks of William Geldney.<br>

John Sexton: Places of Power.<br>

John Sexton: Quiet Light.<br>

Diane Arbus: Revelations.<br>

Winnogrand: Figments from the real world.

[tom h.]

Good online portfolio <a href="http://www.masters-of-

photography.com/E/eggleston/eggleston.html" >here</a> Trevor,

somewhere to start, at least. His compositional sense is

amazingly consistent, and always razor sharp (IMHO).

[link]

<i>Although he is/was a Leica photographer...</i><p>

 

I came across some photos of Mr. Eggleston on the net recently (google Eggleston

and Japan). He was shooting with a Fuji gw690 rangefinder FWIW.

[markci]

Eggleston has been a Leica user all his life, actually, though he has done some medium format work as well.

[nickperzik]

i wasn't an eggleston fan until i saw a show of his work at a gallery here in los angeles. the books really don't do justice to his photographs. the room was full of 20x24 and bigger dye transfer and c prints and they were absolutely beautiful. it really changed my mind about him. not that i hated his photographs before, but i just didn't really think much of them. i say if you're at all interested in his work, go for it. buy the book. oh and for what it's worth - the woman at the gallery told me that with the exception of a few that were shot with a rollei, everything was shot with a leica and a 50mm lens. regardless of what you think of his work, he was largely responsible for the acceptance of color in fine art photography. so there.

[Brad_]

He shoots with an X-Pan now. Will be interesting to see what develops.

[david_fox2]

The November issue of Leica Fotographie International (LFI) features an Eggleston

photograph on the cover and an accompanying story featuring Egglestons work and the

work of Wilmar Koenig. Finally, there are several recent pictures of Eggleston himself.

In both shots he is holding a Leica.

[Allen Herbert]

Interesting post, Trevor, some what unusual for this forum. William Eggleston does not do it for me, however,a nice change from the gear stuff.

 

Gold star for Trevor.

[terry_rory]

Thanks for all your input. (And for the Gold star Allen!)

 

I have decided to order the book and amazon will oblige with a copy by Tuesday (I hope)

[Nowhereman]

>>>"I don't think he used Leica cameras.<<<

 

Actually, he shot nothing but Leicas for most of his life, but has only recently been using a

6x9, and, for a while, also a Hasselblad I believe.

 

Trevor:

 

1. While the "Guide" is interesting, because of the selection of pictures and the

introduction by Szarkowski, the Eggleston book with the best color printing is his "Los

Alamos." Eggleston has a fantastic sense of color that is very evident in his prints but is

often almost lost in the books; it does comes through in "Los Alamos."

 

2. Huger Foote, a young -- about 40 -- friend Egggleston, goes somewhat beyond the

Egggleston style in his book "My Friend from Memphis." There is a photograph in it of

branches of trees -- page 37 I beieve -- that is entitled "Pollock" has uncannily the look of

a Jackson Pollock painting. Have a look at this book if you can find it. Last week at

ParisPhoto I saw two 38x55 inch Foote photos of what look like some corners of a decrepit

garden: they were marvellous. They were present by Hamiltons in London, where you

could go to see the Huger Footes.

 

3. On another track is the most recent book I bought, "Daido Moriyama" by Daido

Moriyama distributed by Thames & Hudson. I love Moriyama -- he's probably the most

influential contemporary photographer in Japan, perhaps more than Araki and there was in

interesting article on him in the Spring 2004 issue of Modern Painters, a British art

magazine.

 

--Mitch/Bangkok

[Nowhereman]

>>>for a while, also a Hasselblad I believe<<<

 

Could have been a Rolleiflex, I'm not sure, but he has one book shot in 6x6cm.

[jim r]

FWIW - ICP is offering a book by Eggleston of B&W prints, his earliest work. Has anyone had a chance to see it?

[gary_pinkerton1]

I 'second' everything good, anyone has to say about WE's work;

After seeing his prints at a show a few years back, I was also even more inpressed.

[terry_rory]

Found his official website just now. Lots of great stuff.

 

I have looked around for a copy of 'Los Alamos' but it is 135 GB pounds here so I will probably get a copy shipped over from a good USA dealer.

[Nowhereman]

>>>Found his official website just now. Lots of great stuff.<<<

 

Do you mean Moriyama or Eggleston? If it's Moriyam, I like the pictures in the book I

mentioned much better than what one sees on his website.

 

 

>>>I have looked around for a copy of 'Los Alamos' but it is 135 GB pounds here so I will

probably get a copy shipped over from a good USA dealer.<<<

 

Ugh. I just checked on amazon.com: it's $44.20, but shiips in 4-5 weeks.

 

--Mitch/Bangkok

[terry_rory]

Thanks Mitch. The website I mentioned was Egglestons official website.

 

It is interesting, although no substitute for a good book of course. (That is why I have already ordered "Guide" yesterday.) However the website will do until the book gets delivered.

 

I have doubts about a 44 dollar brand new copy of Los Alamos (the one you refer to on the USA Amazon site) The least expensive, mint/new, copy I have found so far is 121 dollars in the USA. (From a reliable dealer that I have dealt with before) I will probably get that one and wait a couple of weeks for shipping to the UK.

 

I don't want to get some 44 dollar 'knock off' or bad third party re-print when I can get an original. 121 dollars is not a lot of money in GB pounds.

 

Thanks for your help Mitch.

[kei n.]

For those of you interested in Eggleston, check out Alec Soth's project on the Mississippi at the Magnum website under Features. It's very Eggleston in large format and a very very cool project.

[fate_faith_change_chains]

You might wanna check out 'The New Color Photography' out also, lots of explanations and photographs about the works of Eggleston and other important color photographers like him.

[watts]

Trevor, Los Alamos is (or was) quite widely available from

bookshops in London for around 40-odd quid. If Waterstones or

Borders can't get you a copy, try Shipley's (formerly Zwemmer's)

on Charing Cross Road.

 

Incidentally, my mother-in-law bought me my copy for my

birthday earlier this year from the Amazon.co.uk website. Has it

gone out of print already?

[watts]

Trevor, I don't understand why you think the 44 dollar copy of Los

Alamos from amazon.com would be inferior to the copy you have

found elsewhere. As far as I know there has only been one

edition of this book published in 2003 by Scalo. What is special

about the 135 quid version you have located?

[watts]

Something <a href="http://egglestontrust.com/

hasselblad_f.html" target="_blank">here</a> to keep the

gearheads interested in this thread