Color Photography: William Eggleston

William Eggleston is seen as the father of color photography according to an article we read as a class assignment. Apparently he would overexpose his film in order to give his colors the effect he wanted. I'm very new to color photography and seeing his images is an inspiring experience. His colors just have this quality that I believe can only be achieved with film. The mundane subject matter just adds to the color quality in an indescribable way. http://www.egglestontrust.com/

This first image struck me because of it's strong composition. The strong geometrical figures and lines leading you throughout the image along with the framing of certain objects is just beautiful. The fact that it seems like such an ordinary and everyday scene just makes it so much more accessible. I would love to see this image in black and white but I honestly believe it would just become another snapshot then. Although the composition might save a little of the beauty, most of the beauty is in the oddly soft hues of blue and that bright highlight of a yellow-orange coming from the left side.

This image is quite possibly the most beautiful photo I have ever seen! It's so plain…I honestly would never like an image this plain but there's something about the pure whites and slight tinge of color in the shadows. I'm not sure what color the shadow is supposed to be (Tate always does tell us that digital copies are the devil) but in this version the shadows are this strange smokey red. It's odd that I'm about to say this image would be terrible in black and white because the picture is almost colorless anyway but the subtle nuances of color make this image! And the whites! They're so pure and so…white! I can't believe such a plain image is getting such a reaction out of me!

This image struck me because of the gorgeous reds! I was out shooting today and I came across some red plant up against the snow and I tried so hard to capture the amazingly vibrant color and I just couldn't get it! When I overexposed it I did get close but it just wasn't the same. Anyway, these reds are amazing! I think the fact that they're up against a warm background helps to make them as vibrant as they should be. And then the cool blue sky just makes these flowers look like they're the warmest thing on this planet! Would this image work in black and white? Hell no!