Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 927

Boliver, Mississippi, 1982

Photograph
1982 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

William Eggleston (born 1939) changed the course of colour photography by translating the intense, super-real quality of colour transparencies into the saturated hues of dye transfer prints. Adopting processes previously used in advertising – the dye transfer technique was predominantly commercial at the time – Eggleston set a precedent for colour documentary and art photography that remains influential today. His work pinpoints the moment when colour began to be generally accepted as part of the language of art photography, and his subtle choices of camera positions loosened up photographers’ ideas about viewpoint.

In the early 1970s Eggleston began to photograph the realities of his own landscape in the American South. He finds ‘the uncommonness of the commonplace’ in ordinary scenes and places, as photographer Raymond Moore described it. Inspired by family snapshots, he focuses on the everyday and the overlooked in order to reveal them as remarkable.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBoliver, Mississippi, 1982 (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
C-type colour photograph on Kodak paper
Brief description
Photograph by William Eggleston, 'Boliver, Mississippi', C-type colour photograph on Kodak paper, USA, 1982
Physical description
A colour photograph depicting a black three seater sofa.
Dimensions
  • Height: 37.9cm
  • Width: 56.1cm
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1990
Subject depicted
Summary
William Eggleston (born 1939) changed the course of colour photography by translating the intense, super-real quality of colour transparencies into the saturated hues of dye transfer prints. Adopting processes previously used in advertising – the dye transfer technique was predominantly commercial at the time – Eggleston set a precedent for colour documentary and art photography that remains influential today. His work pinpoints the moment when colour began to be generally accepted as part of the language of art photography, and his subtle choices of camera positions loosened up photographers’ ideas about viewpoint.

In the early 1970s Eggleston began to photograph the realities of his own landscape in the American South. He finds ‘the uncommonness of the commonplace’ in ordinary scenes and places, as photographer Raymond Moore described it. Inspired by family snapshots, he focuses on the everyday and the overlooked in order to reveal them as remarkable.
Bibliographic references
  • Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1990
  • Haworth-Booth, Mark. William Eggleston : colour photographs from the American South. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.
Collection
Accession number
E.2778-1990

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdFebruary 23, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSON