William Eggleston, At War With The Obvious

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00:00 - Preface
01:31 - Introduction
02:43 - The Best Photowalk On The Internet
06:36 - Introduction to Eggleston
07:46 - Photo Set 1
08:35 - Attempting (and failing) to Describe Eggleston's Work
11:34 - At War With The Obvious
14:18 - Eggleston's Connection To The Fine Art World
16:05 - Photo Set 2
17:03 - Lessons We Can Learn From Eggleston's Work
25:01 - Photo Set 3
26:06 - Final Thoughts and Documentary Recommendations
28:14 - Outro

[@matthewTobrien]

I watched the BBC doc after watching this. I had never heard of "at war against the obvious" and it's one of those statements that just hammers you. Looking forward to talking about it later. Another excellent video, friend. Looking forward to the next one. 📸

[@AlexCCarter]

Can't wait buddy! Definitely recommend the "In The Real World" Amazon doc as well.

[@matthewTobrien]

@@AlexCCarter I tried watching it on my AppleTV but I needed to subscribe to some add-on thing - Fandora? I'll give it a shot later. I ended up checking out a Garry Winogrand doc through iTunes that I hadn't seen.

[@tommartin9731]

Well done again, Alex. You make many excellent points, and your Wyeth reference is spot on. One point in particular I'd like to emphasize. Yes, take the shot. One particular moment in my photographic journey, I was walking the street, camera in hand, a composition developed before me. In split seconds, I saw it, anticipated it, then hesitated because I wasn't sure it would be interesting. Thinking before hitting the shutter is a very bad idea. Never again. If I see the shot, I take it. As you pointed out, we got our whole lives to figure out what a photo means. And if we don't find it, we leave it for someone else.

[@eveanddell]

Really enjoyed this. Growing up in the 70s-80s I can see how his photos instantly trigger nostalgia for me. But it's more than that. Love the Wyeth quote.

[@nicktalerico8273]

That bit where you explain your run in Florida and how Eggleston has this incredible ability to represent human emotions in photographs might have finally helped me figure out what it is that I love about Eggleston. The fact that he is often photographing non-human subjects makes that ability of his even more incredible. That’s truly what I aspire to do with my work. P.S. I think I’ve come back to this video 5-6 times in the past year.

[@Budkalings]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together. Incredible is what I needed to hear.

[@TooLooseLeTrek]

I have the original video for the scene where they stop by an abandoned house and Eggie does his thing with the camera - I have watched this segment countless times. Those images are amazing and shows Wm's ability to 'see.' Thumb's up. BTW - you probably know about a new book coming out in October - The Mystery of the Ordinary. I have quite a few collections of Eggleston books but will be adding this to my shelf later this year. Great job. I think you did a good job introducing Eggleston in this video.

[@AlexCCarter]

Thanks for the kind words. Absolutely love that entire doc.. Does an unbelievable job of presenting Eggleston rather than trying to define him. A lot of photo/artist docs could benefit from that format, imo. Will most likely grab a copy.. I'm a sucker for pre-orders...

[@boarini2003]

I really enjoyed watching this whole video.

[@mikem5107]

Eggleston is an enigma to me. I can't explain why his photos are good or why I like them, but I do. I often wonder what percentage of his photos did he deem worth publishing and how many ended up in a folder somewhere. Was it 1 in 10, 1 in 100, 1 in 1000? I just wonder if he got "lucky" with finding something that happened to work, or if he new he had a banger right when he saw the seen and shot the photo. The photos he took in that video of him of that falling down house were not particularly good in my mind, but the ones you showed in the slide show were so, so good. Another thought: do we like his photos more now because they are so clearly of a different era than we are in now? Are we just feeling nostalgic for a different, simpler time? Did people view his photos the same way back then as they do now? I wonder...

[@Cali62825]

Really appreciate following him at the falling house… that process is rare

[@carolwatts944]

Saul Leiter is also always on my list

[@carolwatts944]

Now I deny most energetically that anything is, or can be, uninteresting. ~ G.K. Chesterton

[@AlexCCarter]

lovely quote

[@chrisecker9341]

WE has a significant place in the art history of photography.

[@tomdivasion7724]

Huge fan of egglestone and really enjoyed your insightful thoughts on his work and wider theories. You have a new subscriber! Thank you

[@AlexCCarter]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.

[@meyers323]

Thank you for making this video!

[@denislaroche3957]

great video, 23 min to 25 min : pure gem.…

[@edwardferry8247]

Thank you very much for posting this 👌…

[@AlexCCarter]

Thanks for watching!

[@StefanoReia-js7wg]

Great analysis

[@MrMnoorist]

U gave me so much hope and inspiration.

[@AlexCCarter]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for leaving a comment!

[@samidb2363]

What is the documentary where he photographs the house called? Is it still available?

[@aperez4198]

i have several questions about Eggleston: Do you think he dodged and burned, or any other retouching in post-processing? Do you think he cropped some images? Did he saturate only speciic colors (say red) while leaving other colors intact?

[@pwood5733]

I thought he was embracing not at war with it

[@thomasclark631]

All reality is subjective.

[@neoaureus]

that is NOT a leica @ 3:19 what is it ?

[@AlexCCarter]

I believe that's a Mamiya Press Cam

[@buddysweeney2044]

'Promo SM' 👀