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Product Description
A few years ago in the archives of the William Eggleston Artistic Trust in Memphis, a box was found containing Egglestons earliest photography remarkably in black and white. The photos were subsequently exhibited at Cheim & Read gallery in New York and sold. This book reunites these photos in their entirety, and shows the artistic beginnings of a pioneer of contemporary photography. In the late 1950s Eggleston began photographing suburban Memphis using high-speed 35 mm black and white film, developing the style and motifs that would come to shape his pivotal colour work including diners, supermarkets, domestic interiors and people engaged in seemingly trivial and banal situations. Now, fifty years later, all the plates in Before Color have been scanned from vintage prints developed by Eggleston in his own darkroom. In the mid 1960s Eggleston discovered colour film and was quickly satisfied with the results: And by God, it worked. Just overnight. Eggleston then abandoned black and white photography, but its fundamental influence on his practice is undeniable. William Eggleston, born in 1939 in Memphis, is one of the most important contemporary American photographers. From the 1970s onwards, his work has significantly contributed to the recognition of colour photography as an artistic medium. Eggleston has published his work extensively, and it has been shown in many major exhibitions around the world. He continues to live and work in Memphis, and travels considerably for photographic projects.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
With an initial flick through these pages you could be looking at Eggleston's 'Guide' or 'Ancient and modern' or 'The Democratic Forest', only these three books are all color. 'Before color' will give you an idea about the origins of Eggleston's style of capturing commonplace and overall I thought it was an interesting selection, though in the nature of this kind of project some photos really stand out and others seem rather marginal.
My favorites are the urban landscape of street scenes, retail units and houses. The interiors, whether commercial premises or homes seem to lack the punch and vitality of the outside shots. The three all color books I've mentioned are almost all exterior images.
The 152 photos have been scanned from Eggleston's original prints (and here they are printed as 175 screen quadratones) and I found it interesting to see how the texture varied from photo to photo. Some have a stippled appearance ( two military personnel, page 94/95 or office equipment, page 128/129) a newly built house (pages 74/75) looks as if you were standing in front of it in real-life because the detail is so precise or the very soft look of three teenagers at a wedding (page 193). Two night photos on pages 162/163 have incredible contrast unlike anything else in the book. Eggleston, by doing his own black and white prints, seems to be experimenting with the textures it's possible to get with various photographic papers.
As this is a photo book there is the usual essay at the start of the book. I find, from experience that these seem to fall into two categories: the extremely informative, like John Szarkowski's in 'William Eggleston's Guide' or the very generalized as the three pages by Dave Hickey in this book. It's called 'Deconstructing reconstruction: Eggleston in before color' and says very little including stuff like this:
'The shadowless, white urban symmetries and green arboreal chaos dissolve into the smooth grisaille of penultimate entropy'.
or
'So the pleasure we derive from these photographs bears with it a cautionary obbligato about the horrors of careless ennui'.
I wish art book publishers would stick to a critic's overview of the artist or subject and forget about anything from others.
Because much of Eggleston's work in these photos suggests his searching and experimenting for a style that eventually exploded with his amazing colour work I think the book is more for the confirmed fan rather than others.
***LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
My favorites are the urban landscape of street scenes, retail units and houses. The interiors, whether commercial premises or homes seem to lack the punch and vitality of the outside shots. The three all color books I've mentioned are almost all exterior images.
The 152 photos have been scanned from Eggleston's original prints (and here they are printed as 175 screen quadratones) and I found it interesting to see how the texture varied from photo to photo. Some have a stippled appearance ( two military personnel, page 94/95 or office equipment, page 128/129) a newly built house (pages 74/75) looks as if you were standing in front of it in real-life because the detail is so precise or the very soft look of three teenagers at a wedding (page 193). Two night photos on pages 162/163 have incredible contrast unlike anything else in the book. Eggleston, by doing his own black and white prints, seems to be experimenting with the textures it's possible to get with various photographic papers.
As this is a photo book there is the usual essay at the start of the book. I find, from experience that these seem to fall into two categories: the extremely informative, like John Szarkowski's in 'William Eggleston's Guide' or the very generalized as the three pages by Dave Hickey in this book. It's called 'Deconstructing reconstruction: Eggleston in before color' and says very little including stuff like this:
'The shadowless, white urban symmetries and green arboreal chaos dissolve into the smooth grisaille of penultimate entropy'.
or
'So the pleasure we derive from these photographs bears with it a cautionary obbligato about the horrors of careless ennui'.
I wish art book publishers would stick to a critic's overview of the artist or subject and forget about anything from others.
Because much of Eggleston's work in these photos suggests his searching and experimenting for a style that eventually exploded with his amazing colour work I think the book is more for the confirmed fan rather than others.
***LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a very good collection of Eggleston's black and White work and reflect life in middle America in the sixties and seventies and this is where the photographs work best; capturing day to day life and activities. There are some great shots of stores, gas stations and interiors with people going about their lives. Many grab attention simply because they are of such normal things. But equally there are a number of photographs that beg the question of why are they included. These include shots of people who are probable friends and that are similar to those spur of the moment picture we all have and keep in a box or album along with those of our first car. Such pictures don't usually mean much to other people and when published in a book such as this generate confusion and detract from the overall quality of the work. That said, in the main this book provides a good insight into Eggleston's way of looking at things and, as a keen photographer myself, often leads me to ask why I don't see such things in the same way; many times Eggleston seems to say through his work, 'look, here's the picture, stop and see it for yourself'. The book itself is well put together as would be expected by publisher Steidl and the quality of the reproductions is high albeit that Eggleston's own originals show large variants in printing quality and technique. Overall I found the work both interesting and inspiring, it will be well read over the years to come.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
The South: diced and sliced
20 Jan 2011
Format:Hardcover
With an initial flick through these pages you could be looking at Eggleston's 'Guide' or 'Ancient and modern' or 'The Democratic Forest', only these three books are all color. 'Before color' will give you an idea about the origins of Eggleston's style of capturing commonplace and overall I thought it was an interesting selection, though in the nature of this kind of project some photos really stand out and others seem rather marginal.
My favorites are the urban landscape of street scenes, retail units and houses. The interiors, whether commercial premises or homes seem to lack the punch and vitality of the outside shots. The three all color books I've mentioned are almost all exterior images.
The 152 photos have been scanned from Eggleston's original prints (and here they are printed as 175 screen quadratones) and I found it interesting to see how the texture varied from photo to photo. Some have a stippled appearance ( two military personnel, page 94/95 or office equipment, page 128/129) a newly built house (pages 74/75) looks as if you were standing in front of it in real-life because the detail is so precise or the very soft look of three teenagers at a wedding (page 193). Two night photos on pages 162/163 have incredible contrast unlike anything else in the book. Eggleston, by doing his own black and white prints, seems to be experimenting with the textures it's possible to get with various photographic papers.
As this is a photo book there is the usual essay at the start of the book. I find, from experience that these seem to fall into two categories: the extremely informative, like John Szarkowski's in 'William Eggleston's Guide' or the very generalized as the three pages by Dave Hickey in this book. It's called 'Deconstructing reconstruction: Eggleston in before color' and says very little including stuff like this:
'The shadowless, white urban symmetries and green arboreal chaos dissolve into the smooth grisaille of penultimate entropy'.
or:
'So the pleasure we derive from these photographs bears with it a cautionary obbligato about the horrors of careless ennui'.
I wish art book publishers would stick to a critic's overview of the artist or subject and forget about anything from others.
Because much of Eggleston's work in these photos suggests his searching and experimenting for a style that eventually exploded with his amazing color work I think the book is more for the confirmed fan rather than others.
***LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
My favorites are the urban landscape of street scenes, retail units and houses. The interiors, whether commercial premises or homes seem to lack the punch and vitality of the outside shots. The three all color books I've mentioned are almost all exterior images.
The 152 photos have been scanned from Eggleston's original prints (and here they are printed as 175 screen quadratones) and I found it interesting to see how the texture varied from photo to photo. Some have a stippled appearance ( two military personnel, page 94/95 or office equipment, page 128/129) a newly built house (pages 74/75) looks as if you were standing in front of it in real-life because the detail is so precise or the very soft look of three teenagers at a wedding (page 193). Two night photos on pages 162/163 have incredible contrast unlike anything else in the book. Eggleston, by doing his own black and white prints, seems to be experimenting with the textures it's possible to get with various photographic papers.
As this is a photo book there is the usual essay at the start of the book. I find, from experience that these seem to fall into two categories: the extremely informative, like John Szarkowski's in 'William Eggleston's Guide' or the very generalized as the three pages by Dave Hickey in this book. It's called 'Deconstructing reconstruction: Eggleston in before color' and says very little including stuff like this:
'The shadowless, white urban symmetries and green arboreal chaos dissolve into the smooth grisaille of penultimate entropy'.
or:
'So the pleasure we derive from these photographs bears with it a cautionary obbligato about the horrors of careless ennui'.
I wish art book publishers would stick to a critic's overview of the artist or subject and forget about anything from others.
Because much of Eggleston's work in these photos suggests his searching and experimenting for a style that eventually exploded with his amazing color work I think the book is more for the confirmed fan rather than others.
***LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Early work that includes a number of weak images
21 Feb 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love Bill Eggleston's color photography. More than anyone else, he deserves credit for opening the eyes of the art community to color work being as valid as black and white work. His color images are so primitive, simple and full of clarity, I often stand in awe. But his early black and white work, as published here, shows a lot of the weaknesses present in most beginning photographer's works. Muddy printing, images degraded due to technical goof-ups during film processing, bad lighting and generally weak photographs. It's a "warts and all" book of Eggleston's early work. As such, it's a very good book and worthy of purchase by those dyed-in-the-wool fans such as myself who want to know everything and see everything. But for someone unfamiliar with Eggleston's color work, it's not a good starting point. It really doesn't offer any useful insight into his later work other than the subject matter and composition. Many of the photographs printed here would never have seen publication except that they were done by one who later grew to master his art and craft.
Finally, I agree wholeheartedly with the other reviewer concerning the introduction. That's some of the most pretentious claptrap I've attempted to read since the narrative to Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Artless Art" book. Do yourself a favor and just skip the introduction. It's really an insult to Eggleston's own observations about his work.
Finally, I agree wholeheartedly with the other reviewer concerning the introduction. That's some of the most pretentious claptrap I've attempted to read since the narrative to Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Artless Art" book. Do yourself a favor and just skip the introduction. It's really an insult to Eggleston's own observations about his work.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Brilliant In Black & White
9 Jan 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The cover alone should clue you in that even in black and white Eggleston's pictures are as every bit as wonderful as his famous color work. This previously unseen collection of pre-color work shows what a great sense of subject matter and composition he had. It's too bad it has taken this long for us to see this work because it is outstanding. The book is thick with page after page of photographs with top quality printing and sturdy binding. One thing to look out for though, because of the leather-like yellow cover material (somewhat similar to the Guide, the red lettering "Before Color" is smudged and splotchy in some copies). If you're an Eggleston fan don't hesitate this makes a great addition to the library. For new viewers you're better off starting with Eggleston's Guide.
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