William Eggleston was born in Memphis, Tennessee on July 27, 1939. At the age of 18, he received his first camera, a Canon rangefinder. One year later, he got a Leica camera, a German make. His only real experience with photographs was in magazines of the 1950’s until he saw a collection of photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evan’s American Photographs. In the 1960’s, Eggleston daringly began to shoot exclusively in color. In this era, shooting exclusively in color was unheard of. Most people previous used color for ornamental purposes or for striking advertisements. Eggleston, however, did not photograph unusual or immediately interesting objects. Instead, in his own words, “I like to take a picture wherever [I] happen to be, whatever is going on.” Interestingly, he visited Japan, but did not photograph. He remarks that “setting out to photograph a country or a place or a continent, that’s not the way I go about things.” He has photographed in Egypt and Africa, but did not go to intentionally do so. In short, Eggleston takes pictures of ordinary subjects, often photographing things as simple as empty Coca-Cola bottles, old pay phones, mildewed showers, and old shoes under a bed.
His work is incredibly uncommon. Who would take pictures of bags of trash, and then the same day, take a picture of fresh food in a freezer? One subject that Eggleston does not photograph often, however, is people. “People in general are not that attractive.” Instead, there is an entire book filled with Eggleston’s photos of dogs and horses. “You don’t see very many ugly dogs.”
Most of Eggleston's series are not narratives, but instead are photographs of similar things. Because Eggleston shoots inanimate objects more often than people or animals, it is hard to create a narrative from this. Instead, he will shoot several photos of stairs in Louisiana. Not grand, ornate staircases, but a series of steps, maybe only three or four step that are weather-beaten and clearly used. Or, it may be pictures of flowers that are not arranged in a beautiful bouquet. Instead, these flowers are wilted, decaying, sitting in front of a grave. There is nothing traditionally beautiful about this photo, except in a somber, melancholy way. But this is not how Eggleston operates. He does not shoot to say "here, look at this, it is a beautiful thing I have found in a forgotten pathway." Instead, he takes photos to say "here, look at this average thing I have found. Maybe you overlooked it, but take another look, if you'd like to."
The closest thing to a narrative is Eggleston's series of Graceland, Elvis’s estate, which he was asked to do in 1983. There are several photos of Elvis's ornate house, the golding shining curtains and other artifacts, but also, there is a single photo with stands out all the more because it is not eye-catching or distinctive. The photograph is of an ugly stone wall, random stones shoved together rather hastily it appears. Covering this wall are the scrawling of fans with whatever they had to write with, whether it was paint or a Sharpie. Right in the middle is a message that says “I love you tender L. M. 7-16-83.”
With this one photo, Eggleston shows us much more than he could simply by shooting the interior of Graceland. He shows us a partial glimpse into the effect that Elvis had on America. Eggleston does not shoot the pretty or the pristine. Instead, we see the William Eggleston shoots the world as it truly is. He shoots the empty paint can, the abandoned gasoline pump, the abandoned peach stand. And this becomes fantastic photography.
