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The Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston (University of Mississippi Museum and Historic Houses Series) Hardcover – May 31, 2019
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Contributions by Megan Abbott, Michael Almereyda, Kris Belden-Adams, Maude Schuyler Clay, William Dunlap, W. Ralph Eubanks, William Ferris, Marti A. Funke, Lisa Howorth, Amanda Malloy, Richard McCabe, Emily Ballew Neff, Robert Saarnio, and Anne Wilkes Tucker
The Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston is an examination of the life and work of the artist widely considered to be the father of color photography. William Eggleston was born in 1939 and grew up in the Mississippi Delta town of Sumner. His innovative 1976 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York helped establish color photography as an artistic medium and has inspired photographers and artists around the world.
Edited by Ann J. Abadie, the catalog contains fifty-five Eggleston photographs, thirty-six that were featured in The Beautiful Mysterious exhibition at the University of Mississippi Museum from September 2016 to February 2017. Eggleston’s longtime friend William Ferris, a celebrated folklorist, donated all the photographs to the Museum. The photographs range from 1962 into the 1980s, representing each of Eggleston’s projects during that time. Some of the photographs are inscribed with Eggleston’s rare handwritten notes about location, people, dates, and projects. Eight of Eggleston’s early dye transfers are in the collection. Many of these works had not been on public display before this exhibition, including black-and-white images that are unique-copy single prints.
This is a penetrating examination of the influence of the Mississippi Delta and the American South on Eggleston’s work and of Eggleston’s influence on photography and other creative fields.
- Print length144 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity Press of Mississippi
- Publication dateMay 31, 2019
- Dimensions11.2 x 0.8 x 11.3 inches
- ISBN-10149682234X
- ISBN-13978-1496822345
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Editorial Reviews
Review
The Beautiful Mysterious is a treasure. So many of these pictures are new to me. This is not only a vital chapter in William Eggleston’s history but also tells so much about the South and at the same time about all of humanity, geography aside. It is in the best of the Walker Evans tradition. -- John T. Hill, author of Walker Evans: Lyric Documentary, coauthor of Walker Evans: Depth of Field, and executor of the Walker Evans Estate
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- Publisher : University Press of Mississippi (May 31, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 144 pages
- ISBN-10 : 149682234X
- ISBN-13 : 978-1496822345
- Item Weight : 2.9 pounds
- Dimensions : 11.2 x 0.8 x 11.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #693,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2024Moving from start to finish through the photos yields a cool story of the photographer, his location and surroundings and his vision. The symposium conversation is priceless as a history of an unusual gutsy character that vigorously pursued his work.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2019The best part of this book is the symposium conversations between the participants concerning Eggleston's photography and history. The photographs that accompany the text are already familiar to those of us who have been following Eggleston's work for years or they are lesser works that add little to his reputation. For that reason, this is a book for people who are already Eggleston fans or those who are interested in research on the subject. For those who are only interested in the man's photography, there are many other excellent books out there. I enjoyed reading the text and seeing the photos but this book would have a limited audience.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2020When I initially received this book, I was disappointed by the selection of the photographs. However, over time I came to see this book as an interesting window into Eggleston's process. The photos presented here are taken from the collections of friends of the artist, so what one sees is not curated by an art historian or critic, but rather what caught the eye of Eggleston's friends. There are few of Eggleston's famous photographs here, and there are many "lesser" works in this collection that are nonetheless very interesting, as they show Eggleston's process of working through a location or subject. You get a sense, in looking at these pictures, of the photographer exploring a place through his camera, and instead of seeing the one great picture, you see the pictures that came before and after.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2019The iconography is a little disappointing except for the cover photo .... the text of the symposium has some really interesting testimony ....if you want to know more on Bill Eggleston ....
then you have like the rules of the market for the photo book edition .... a whole story .
- Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2024Terrible example of good photography. Don’t waste your money for this rip off book!
Top reviews from other countries
- Thomas MeldertReviewed in Sweden on February 12, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite
One of my favorite phtographers
- BCDaveReviewed in Canada on May 26, 2020
3.0 out of 5 stars A Lot to Read
I had some good expectations for this book but in the end was disappointed. Half of the book is a selection of Eggleston’s photographs including a significant number from Bill Ferris’s private collection. The remainder of the book (about 70 pages) seems to be transcripts of symposiums and shorter writing about Eggleston and his work. Let’s just say that if you’re a fan of a conversational writing style you might like this book. On first skim the writing seemed to focus more on Ferris and his relationship with Eggleston which gives some insight into Eggleston but indirectly more about Ferris. It’s going to take some time to dig a bit deeper into the readings. Wouldn’t recommend this as the first Eggleston book to buy for your library but if you appreciate his work and want to read (a lot) more about it put it on the back burner for later.
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Amazon カスタマーReviewed in Japan on April 30, 2023
3.0 out of 5 stars 半分がテキスト
写真集ということで購入したが、大学が出版元ということかもしれないが、後半はテキスト。
写真自身は素晴らしいが、研究者では無いので、後半半分のテキストは要らない。