Memphis, early 1970s

'One can say... that in these photographs form and content are indistinguishable--which is to say that the pictures mean precisely what they appear to mean. Attempting to translate these appearances into words is surely a fool's errand, in the pursuit of which no two fools who choose the same unsatisfactory words.'
--John Szarkowski, William Eggleston's Guide, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1976.

Memphis and Eggleston seem to have a mutual creative understanding that compels the artist to approach the city with much more discretion and reverence than any of the individuals he treats like hunting trophies that have stumbled into his cross-hairs. His compositions are colorful cocktails of muddled cynicism and delighted fascination. This whimsicality and wit has resonated with a wide audience since Eggleston has changed the medium of fine art photography forever in his groundbreaking exhibition in 1976 at the Museum of Modern Art: William Eggleston’s Guide. A print of the image offered here was included in this exhibition.

Subsequently, Eggleston's work has been the subject of exhibitions at institutions worldwide including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the Barbican Gallery, London; documenta IX, Kassel, Germany; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. In more recent years, his work has been featured in exhibitions at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; National Portrait Gallery, London; and Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam. Along the way, Eggleston has established himself as an indelible pioneer of photography as a contemporary art form.