William Eggleston

Opening: Saturday 14 March, 5 – 8 PM

Zander Galerie Paris is pleased to present an exhibition of six unique oversized dye-transfer prints by William Eggleston, taken between 1968 and 1973. Shown for the first time, these rare works occupy a singular position within the artist’s oeuvre, distinguished by their scale, chromatic intensity, and material presence.

William Eggleston (b. 1939, Memphis, Tennessee) is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern photography and a pioneer in the recognition of colour photographs as a legitimate form of art. His work focuses on the everyday landscapes of the American South, captured with a heightened attention to colour, structure, and visual balance. Rather than seeking dramatic or narrative moments, he developed a practice rooted in observation, where ordinary scenes become sites of formal and perceptual intensity. Central to his approach is the concept he described as ‘democratic photography’, the idea that all subjects merit equal attention. This principle reshaped photographic thinking by emphasising perception and inviting viewers to reconsider how meaning emerges from the commonplace. His work came to prominence in 1976 with the exhibition Color Photographs by William Eggleston at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, curated by John Szarkowski. The exhibition contributed to a decisive shift in the institutional reception of colour photography, placing his work at the forefront of a broader transformation in the medium.

The photographs presented in this exhibition are emblematic of William Eggleston’s work, distinguished by their printing technique and his singular eye for composition. The dye-transfer process, renowned for its exceptional colour saturation and tonal precision, allowed him to achieve chromatic intensity and visual clarity central to the impact of his images. For more than twenty-five years, Eggleston worked closely with master printers Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli at Color Vision Imaging Laboratory, developing a collaborative process that was both technically rigorous and artistically driven. This sustained partnership was instrumental in translating his photographs into prints of remarkable depth, balance, and chromatic complexity. These six dye-transfer prints were produced at the artist’s request in a format significantly larger than his standard prints – each one is a unique work. The images exemplify the breadth of Eggleston’s subject matter and his commitment to democratic photography. Several of these images have been reproduced in William Eggleston. Chromes, Volume II and III, published by Steidl in 2011, highlighting their significance within his oeuvre. Together, these rare oversized prints reveal how scale, colour, and composition converge to produce photographs of exceptional quality.

Over the course of his career, Eggleston’s work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the collections of major museums worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Tate Modern, London; and Centre Pompidou, Paris. He has also been the subject of major solo exhibitions at institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris.

Press release (French)