William Eggleston /anglais - Tapa dura

Born in 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he still lives, William Eggleston is widely considered one of America's most important photographers. His 1976 one-man exhibition, Photographs by William Eggleston, at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, marked a turning point in the history of photography: this was when colour photography gained recognition as a medium of artistic expression. His intense, dramatic use of colour and 'democratic' approach to mundane subject matter continue to have an enormous impact on contemporary photographic practice. Published to accompany the exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, this volume brings together Eggleston's most significant works, from his first experiments in black and white to a series of photographs of Kyoto produced specifically for this exhibit. Drawing on public and private collections in Europe and the United States, this book contains vintage prints executed in the technique most characteristic of his work, the dye transfer process, as well as many lesser-known and previously unseen photographs. From Mississippi to Berlin, Kenya to Asia, Eggleston has tirelessly explored the wider world, transforming, through his camera, the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Herve Chandes is director of the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.