William Eggleston: 5X7

by William Eggleston (Photographer)

Never-before-seen black-and-white nightclub photographs enliven the typical Eggleston oeuvre This monograph on American photographer William Eggleston highlights his photos taken on a large-format 5 x 7 camera in the early 1970s. It features both color and black-and-white photographs, the latter of which are a never-before-seen series of portraits taken inside the nightclubs that Eggleston frequented. Museum director and contemporary art curator Walter Hopps―an early champion for Eggleston―characterized these images as “offhand and spontaneous but insistently stark; their brutality is heightened by the absence of color.” The volume also features Eggleston in conversation with filmmaker Michael Almereyda, who directed a documentary on the artist in 2005.
William Eggleston (born 1939) encountered photography and abstract expressionism while studying at Vanderbilt and the University of Mississippi. Inspired by the work of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eggleston began working with color film in the 1960s and is credited with popularizing its use among artistic photographers. His work can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Michael Almereyda (born 1959) originally studied art history at Harvard before leaving the university to pursue filmmaking. He is best known for his 2000 adaptation of Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles. His 2005 documentary William Eggleston in the Real World was nominated for a Gotham Award.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art

120 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2006

About the author

Born in Memphis and raised in Sumner, Mississippi, William Eggleston was, even in youth, more interested in art and observing the world around him than in the more popular southern boyhood pursuits of hunting and sports. While he dabbled in obtaining an education at a succession of colleges including Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, he became interested in the work of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and began taking black and white photographs with the Leica camera a friend had given him. He began experimenting with color photography in 1965. Although processes for color photography had existed in various forms since the turn of the century, at that time it still was not considered a medium for fine art, and was mostly relegated to the world of advertising.

Eggleston was the first photographer to have a solo show of color prints at the MoMA in 1976. Accompanied by the release of the book William Eggleston's Guide, it was a watershed moment in the history of photography.

Reviews

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

These late night bar portraits from early 1970s Memphis serve as a companion to William Eggleston's wild STRANDED IN CANTON video. They showcase a different aspect of his work and most are shot in black-and-white. They're strange and glorious, the subjects slightly self-conscious but gamely engaging the lens. Oddly, the color shots here are less involving and rupture some of the mood.
****1/2 stars.

[Alex Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this along with a bunch of other photography books in preparation for a workshop I’m running soon, which I say only for the context that I picked this one up primarily because it was cheap and it has the name “Eggleston” on the spine. I’m certainly familiar and a fan of his work, but I’m not sure I would have bought this one if the used book store I was searching had almost any other of his works.

That said, I really did love this. You could almost smell the people in most of the portraits. I read this looking down at it on my table, and the hair hanging from my head in front of the edges of the page felt less real than the locks, the pores, the irises in these shots. Large format is no joke.

What strikes me most is how natural and candid a lot of these feel despite being obviously posed photographs. The slight shine of sweat, untrimmed eyebrows and facial hair. These are very raw and real photographs - no small feat in as intimate and planned a framing as most of them are shot in.

[Yi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nearly half of the pages are blank. Automatic fail.

[Orest Mercator · Rating 5 out of 5]

High-key a master of 5x7 portraiture

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this moment, William Eggleston is the most important living photographer. Famous for his color images, this is all black and white. And guess what? He's still great!

[Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tremendous book. Think of it as Eggleston beyond (and before) Szarkowski. The prints are spectacular and the essay illuminating. I can't wait for Stranded in Canton.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable collection of portraits.