Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Book Review: Eggleston, William. Ancient and Modern, Random House, 1992


The UAE university library system has two Eggleston photobooks:  The Hasselbald Award and this volume, Ancient and Modern.  Both are similar in presenting career overviews, this one featuring about 150 images.  As such the book doesn't really hold up thematically, though it does showcase some of the more famous images, such as the red roof, the yellow sink, the Elvis portrait, peaches.  What I discovered here is that Eggleston has traveled a bit outside the US.  I was surprised to find images of Egypt and Kenya and I would like to see more.  Perhaps the most startling piece in the collection is from South Africa, a basket of oranges bottom left and the remainder featuring a wall bathed in soft yellow-orange light.  I haven’t been able to google a copy, so maybe I’ll have to scan one. The introductory essay by Mark Holborn is the kind of biographical review you might expect to find in a book pitched to a general audience.  Still, there were things to discover, such as the photographer's reaction to Walker Evan’s frontal field of view, with Eggleston appreciating more the varied angles of Cartier-Bresson.  I was also surprised to note Eggleston’s interest  in using color for creative effect, not just capturing it as presented.  My perception of him thus far has been something of a documentarian.  This may require revision.  Thus far most of the photobooks I've checked out from the university library system seem to have been largely unopened.  This one appears to have been reviewed, as the evidence here clearly shows.







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