William Eggleston: The Last Dyes

by William Eggleston

Genres: Photography

112 pages, Hardcover

Published November 18, 2025

About the author

Born in Memphis and raised in Sumner, Mississippi, William Eggleston was, even in youth, more interested in art and observing the world around him than in the more popular southern boyhood pursuits of hunting and sports. While he dabbled in obtaining an education at a succession of colleges including Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, he became interested in the work of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and began taking black and white photographs with the Leica camera a friend had given him. He began experimenting with color photography in 1965. Although processes for color photography had existed in various forms since the turn of the century, at that time it still was not considered a medium for fine art, and was mostly relegated to the world of advertising.

Eggleston was the first photographer to have a solo show of color prints at the MoMA in 1976. Accompanied by the release of the book William Eggleston's Guide, it was a watershed moment in the history of photography.

Reviews

[Orest Mercator · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spent some time with Eggelston’s work last year and wasn’t sophisticated to notice much other than his striking use of saturation. I’m now coming to this marvelous back of last dye transfer prints half a year later. With that time, here’s what I’ve enjoyed noticing: he gets low (avoiding the look of a mere snapshot by looking up at things or descending to their level and viewing head-on), he lets architecture breathe (he likes colorful subjects standing alone in fields of complementary colors; images never feel crowded); he gets amazing browns (this is so much of his warmth and richness); grain is exceedingly fine; his edge control is masterful but not finicky (telephone lines lope across top slivers, letters are sliced in half by framing—it’s organized and geometric but avoids being mannered or too clean); he loves to include a strong horizon line; his horizons have depth (often something like a small cluster of trees in the far distance will give scale to the background and make it more interesting but not distracting); in temperature, he leans cool; in tint, green.

[Sennen Ashford · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s really amazing to see his son’s carrying on his legacy. I really wish the diet transfers printing method was still possible today. I would’ve loved to try it with my own work.