William Eggleston & Stephen Shore

William Eggleston

          Eggleston is a photographer who prides himself in capturing the little intricacies of life.  His style consists of many everyday situations and objects, and he finds interesting ways to capture these moments.  Personally, Eggleston's work does not inspire me very much, but I can see how he has become famous.  Not may photographers would take the time to photograph the mundane and small aspects of our American culture, but Eggleston took it upon himself to find these little details and portray them effectively through his photography.

          The first photograph (below) is interesting because we want to know more about the story.  The colors that are shown and the setting are obvious, but the story is a bit hazy.  The way that Eggleston chooses to hide the second figure behind the first figure's hair is very interesting and the framing of the booths and the brick wall help to add to the dramatic nature of this photo.

          This photograph (bottom) was first introduced to me in a photo history class taught by Byrd Williams, and it caught my interest right away.  We see a scene that is so very typical, but at the same time, very interesting.  We see a man, sitting on a hotel bed, with a glass in his hand and questions begin to pop in our mind right away.  Is Eggleston just wanting to show us a picture of everyday life, or is there more to it?  Does he know this man?  Is this a random person that he found interesting?  We can only answer these questions for ourselves, and honestly I think this makes the photograph more interesting.  To me, Eggleston's concepts are much more interesting than the photographs themselves.

Stephen Shore


          Stephen Shore is a photographer whose work is seen in the 303 Gallery in New York who specializes in photographing in color small and usually boring details of American life.  Shore enjoys taking a scene which we would expect, but photographing it in a way that we do not expect.  The photo below is a prime example of the way Shore likes to play with these concepts.  When most landscape photographers would go to the most beautiful scene they could imagine and capture it in a truly awe-inspiring way, Shore decided in this image that he would photograph what someone else had already photographed, but in an environment that may or may not fit the scene.  We see a billboard with a beautiful lake and mountain scene on it, but Shore chose to show the entire context of this billboard in it's place.

          The second image (below) is befitting of many of Shore's photographs.  We see a street scene that is witnessed every day, and yet it becomes more interesting than that of a snapshot.  This type of aesthetic is what I like to call a "thought out snapshot" which really is not a snapshot at all.  He has carefully placed all of the objects in the frame exactly where he wanted to, even with the light post to the left and the gas pumps to the right.  Sure, some people may find these photographs boring, but you have to give Shore credit for taking the time to explore a concept so everyday and mundane.  Many people attempt to copy the style of Shore and shoot street photography, but rarely are the results anything close to what he has accomplished.