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William Eggleston: The Outlands: Selected Works
A selection of nearly one hundred previously unseen images from the 1960s and 1970s by the pioneer of color photography, William Eggleston.
The Outlands , a series of photographs taken by Eggleston between 1969 and 1974, establishes the groundbreaking visual themes and lexicon that the artist would continue to develop for decades to come. The work offers a journey through the mythic and evolving American South, seen through the artist’s vibrant colors and a profound sense of nostalgia echo throughout Eggleston’s breathtaking oeuvre. His motifs of signage, cars, and roadside scenes create an iconography of American vistas that inspired a generation of photographers. With its in-depth selection of unforgettable images—a wood-paneled station wagon, doors flung open, parked in an expansive rural setting; the artist’s grandmother in the moody interior of their family’s Sumner, Mississippi home— The Outland s is emblematic of Eggleston’s dynamic, experimental practice. The breadth of work reenergizes his iconic landscapes and forms a new perspective of the American South in transition.
Accompanying the ninety brilliant Kodachrome images and details, a literary, fictional text by the critically acclaimed author Rachel Kushner imagines a story of hitchhikers trekking through the Deep South. New scholarship by Robert Slifkin reframes the art-historical significance of Eggleston’s oeuvre, proposing affinities with work by Marcel Duchamp, Dan Graham, Jasper Johns, and Robert Smithson. A foreword by William Eggleston III offers important insights into the process of selecting and sequencing this series of images.
The Outlands , a series of photographs taken by Eggleston between 1969 and 1974, establishes the groundbreaking visual themes and lexicon that the artist would continue to develop for decades to come. The work offers a journey through the mythic and evolving American South, seen through the artist’s vibrant colors and a profound sense of nostalgia echo throughout Eggleston’s breathtaking oeuvre. His motifs of signage, cars, and roadside scenes create an iconography of American vistas that inspired a generation of photographers. With its in-depth selection of unforgettable images—a wood-paneled station wagon, doors flung open, parked in an expansive rural setting; the artist’s grandmother in the moody interior of their family’s Sumner, Mississippi home— The Outland s is emblematic of Eggleston’s dynamic, experimental practice. The breadth of work reenergizes his iconic landscapes and forms a new perspective of the American South in transition.
Accompanying the ninety brilliant Kodachrome images and details, a literary, fictional text by the critically acclaimed author Rachel Kushner imagines a story of hitchhikers trekking through the Deep South. New scholarship by Robert Slifkin reframes the art-historical significance of Eggleston’s oeuvre, proposing affinities with work by Marcel Duchamp, Dan Graham, Jasper Johns, and Robert Smithson. A foreword by William Eggleston III offers important insights into the process of selecting and sequencing this series of images.
- GenresPhotographyArt
224 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2022
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About the author
William Eggleston
54 books61 followersBorn 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 7, 2023
Five stars for the photographs. Stunningly great work and some unexpected moves you don't normally see in Eggleston's work. Docked a notch for the awkward design -- the *enormous* size of the book makes no sense for the proportion of the images, the photos often run across two pages and key details are lost in the gutter, weird details are blown-up and presented on their own.
October 13, 2021
This is probably the Eggleston output of most interest to those of us who enjoy vernacular architecture and decay in the late 20th c. built environment, which is amusing considering it comprises rejects and miscellaneous overspill from his more popular works.
March 7, 2026
As someone who grew up on the West Coast, the South can be an enigma of preconceived notions, some of them negative. Of course, this is unfair. The perspective of ignorance can be changed by exposure to things Southern, as well as traveling to the South itself.
William Agee's and Walker Evans' Let us Now Praise Famous Men is one introduction to individuals who inhabit the South. Writing by Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner are others. In 1976, William Eggleston's photography became the contemporary introduction to what the South looks like from the point of view of a native. His images were about seeing what was right in front of him, in a way that captures the mundane through a slightly different perspective. Eggleston helped to establish Southern viewpoints in photography, which over time became familiar.
This large format reprint of Eggleston's selected works from The Outlands allows us to see the photographs up close in book format. The essay by his son, William Eggleston, III, puts the photographer into context. It was good that William Christenberry, a close friend of Eggleston's, and another Southern photographer/artist was mentioned. Christenberry is less well-known, but his book, Southern Photographs captures the South in ways that parallels Eggleston's and should not be ignored.
William Agee's and Walker Evans' Let us Now Praise Famous Men is one introduction to individuals who inhabit the South. Writing by Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner are others. In 1976, William Eggleston's photography became the contemporary introduction to what the South looks like from the point of view of a native. His images were about seeing what was right in front of him, in a way that captures the mundane through a slightly different perspective. Eggleston helped to establish Southern viewpoints in photography, which over time became familiar.
This large format reprint of Eggleston's selected works from The Outlands allows us to see the photographs up close in book format. The essay by his son, William Eggleston, III, puts the photographer into context. It was good that William Christenberry, a close friend of Eggleston's, and another Southern photographer/artist was mentioned. Christenberry is less well-known, but his book, Southern Photographs captures the South in ways that parallels Eggleston's and should not be ignored.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews