jsrockit
Moderator
I agree... plus people totally forget about historical context.
Eggleston Sale tonight
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I agree... plus people totally forget about historical context.
Sparrow
Veteran
I don't hate him, I just don't like his photos, I know the history and its context, I realise composition without pictorial content, and colour in combination are legitimate ares of photographic exploration, I just don't think his are very good, sorry
jsrockit
Moderator
Hey, what I said was not directed at you. You are free to like and dislike what you want to. It was more about how he is a very polarizing photographer.
However, now I have to ask... why do you think there is no pictorial content in his work?
anjoca76
Well-known
I visited Memphis several years ago and found it to be one of the most fascinating cities I'd ever visited. It has fantastic food and so much history, especially for anyone interested in early rock, country, and soul music--Sun Records, Graceland, and The Stax Museum, to name a few. And then there is the Lorraine Hotel, where MLK was shot, and which now doubles as the National Civil Rights Museum. One would need be a callous individual to not shed a tear upon visiting the Lorraine Motel. Very powerful. Memphis is an impoverished city, with many colorful but shabby neighborhoods. I am well-traveled in the U.S., but even still, I had never seen so much urban poverty before--whole families living in a long-ago abandoned car wash, etc. I would love to return and shoot the city extensively, though I admit there is a big intimidation factor in doing so (at least for me).
As for Eggleston, he's not everyone's cup of tea, and I can understand that, but then who is? No one. Even the great HCB, for all of his admirers, has just as many who regard his work as nothing special. Same for Walker Evans and all of the other well-known masters of the genre. They all have their detractors. But anyone who thinks he can produce work as good as Eggleston is full of it, in my opinion. That's just sour grapes talking.
As for Eggleston, he's not everyone's cup of tea, and I can understand that, but then who is? No one. Even the great HCB, for all of his admirers, has just as many who regard his work as nothing special. Same for Walker Evans and all of the other well-known masters of the genre. They all have their detractors. But anyone who thinks he can produce work as good as Eggleston is full of it, in my opinion. That's just sour grapes talking.
gns
Well-known
A straight photograph, made with camera and lens cannot help but have pictorial content, can it?
Sparrow
Veteran
.. just that it's all very graphic; very little narrative usually, image constructed from shapes and areas of colour with no real subject to the images, sort of an attempt at abstraction of everyday life ... possibly a laudable idea that's just been poorly edited I feel
PS ... this, the "Art" and auction thing, is just money ... nothing to do with the photos really
BobYIL
Well-known
jsrockit
Moderator
I can agree that his books and exhibits are poorly edited at times, but I cannot agree on the content. His content might not be sexy or exotic, but it is documenting something. Also, to someone not living in the US at that time, his photos could be exotic. To each his own though...
jsrockit
Moderator
Right, two totally different styles... with different agendas. We could do these comparisons all day long and in the end no one would be right or wrong. It's all subjective. I prefer deadpan to overdramatic... most don't.
Sparrow
Veteran
... i agree that he is documenting something, but for me the work is too parochial and confined by its era to have a lasting relevance I feel ... without a subject, or narrative, documentation is little more than period wallpaper
jsrockit
Moderator
I can understand that way of thinking. I don't agree, but I understand. His content is wide ranging and not really a concise story, but there is a story there... of a place during a certain time. I guess I don't view parochial as a bad thing.
jefffribourg
Member
to me his photos have such ease and really show a time in america that is dwindling. they are cultural and filed with lifestyles. the photo of the car, who do you think drove that? what was their name and what did they look like? why were they parked there? with all of his photos i can picture the lifestyle or people and they make me think up little stories. thats why i like them so much. not many photographers can really do that for me consistently.
jsrockit
Moderator
I agree. It's that vagueness that I like. I think his work is deceptively simple.
waltere
waltere
Eggleston Sale tonight
The car picture kinda fascinates me-Bill seems to holding his hands in prayer, while the camera is on the ground...maybe on a pencil aiming up? Self timer, I guess....and all this in the chrome bumper!
The car picture kinda fascinates me-Bill seems to holding his hands in prayer, while the camera is on the ground...maybe on a pencil aiming up? Self timer, I guess....and all this in the chrome bumper!
gns
Well-known
The Online Photographer blog had a link to this update on PDN...
http://pdnpulse.com/2012/04/egglest...ng-new-prints-devaluing-limited-editions.html
http://pdnpulse.com/2012/04/egglest...ng-new-prints-devaluing-limited-editions.html
swoop
Well-known
I'd be willing to sell this poorly framed image for a fraction of the price.
Steve M.
Veteran
I like his work, but would never buy an inkjet print (his or anyone else's) because of the investment/archival issues. With an analog B&W print, we know it's pretty archival. Not so an inkjet print. Too many unknowns unless you KNOW for a fact what the inks/papers/ etc were. I know of no museum that considers them archival. There may be some, but I'm unaware of them. That is, they may sell them, just as they sell coffee cups, pens and such, but they won't collect them. Which could come back to bite you if you wish to sell a print later. When putting serious money into any art object, the key words are traditional processes. Which makes it doubly difficult since Eggleston work is primarily color photos. Those are relatively impermanent, whether traditional or inkjet.
Love the trike!
Love the trike!
BobYIL
Well-known
I'd be willing to sell this poorly framed image for a fraction of the price.
Poor imitation... only the spiked wheels do..
divewizard
perspicaz
William Eggleston is being sued by a collector that bought a limited edition of his traditional prints for diluting their value.
mbisc
Silver Halide User
That's what I meant earlier about "banal inkjet" -- once you set up the profile and the digital image, you can just crank up the printing press, no limits and IMHO no art or craft involved anymore. Honestly, what's the difference to a plain poster that you purchase at the mall???
Kind of like Picasso resorting to unlimited edition, offset lithos for his graphical work towards the end of his career -- great for his pocket book, not so great for people that purchased "real" lithos of his earlier...
Hope this guy wins against the Trust...
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