Photography Exhibition: The Art Institute of Chicago - William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961–2008

The Art Institute of Chicago, regularly has extraordinary photographic exhibitions. This exhibition, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961–2008 is a great example of a wonderful photographer of the last half century in the United States.

This exhibition will run through May 23, 2010

A key figure of the last half-century, Eggleston is often credited for singlehandedly ushering in the era of color art photography. His motivation was simple and decidedly everyday: “I had wanted to see a lot of things in color because the world is in color.” His achievement is patently more extraordinary—transforming ordinary moments into indelible images.

This exhibition, which fills the Modern Wing’s Abbott Galleries and Carolyn S. and Matthew Bucksbaum Gallery, demonstrates Eggleston’s democratic approach to his photographic subjects in both color and black-and-white. On display are Eggleston’s remarkable black-and-white images from the early 1960s and his little-seen recording of 1970s Memphis nightlife, Stranded in Canton. These works only amplify his achievement in bringing a detailed sensitivity to his iconic color photographs—telling portrayals of American culture, including a freezer stuffed with food, Elvis’s Graceland, and a supermarket clerk corralling grocery carts in the afternoon sunlight.

If you’re in the Chicago area before this exhibition leaves, I strongly suggest you take it in. Any Eggleston is a must exhibition as far as I’m concerned.

As I travel, I love seeing the work of other photographers as I hope you do. If you know of a new photographic exhibition which you think the Blog should publicize, please contact me.