William Eggleston

William Eggleston is an American photographer who was born in 1939. He is known best for his increasing recognition for colour photography as an artistic medium.

Eggleston attended many schools and universities such as Webb School, Vanderbilt University, Delta State College and University of Mississippi but none of these resulted to him having a college degree.

Eggleston’s earliest works were inspired by Swiss born photographer Robert Frank and the book ‘The Decisive Moment’ by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer.

William Eggleston brought his first camera, a Canon Rangefinder, in 1957. He first photographed in black and white and started to experiment with colour photography in 1965 and 1966 once William Christenberry had introduced him to the medium.

In 1973 and 1974 he taught at Harvard and it was here that he discovered dye-transfer printing which widened his photographic talents. This dye-transfer printing method resulted in Eggleston’s work ‘The Red Ceiling’ which is a piece of his most famous work. He also created his first portfolio whilst at Harvard and the work included was exhibited at MoMA in 1976.