William Eggleston's Photos @ MET are a Must See

Eggleston's photos from his 1st Portfolio of 14, was shown @ the MoMA '76, and is "credited" with establishing colour photography as a legitimate art form.  While a prof. of photography @ Harvard, Eggleston discovered the relatively new technique of dye-transfer painting.  He quickly infused this technique into his photos leading to a powerful aesthetic tranformation in his work.  The MET recently acquired the Portfolio of 14 along with other photos taken from the 60's-80's; currently on view.  Born in '39 in TN & raised in MS, Eggleston's focus is on the the mundane, that which has be seen so often as to become overlooked, becomes riveting.  The photos are both beautiful & menacing.  I felt a sinister aura lurking in many of the photos.  Note the photo of the white man in a business suit standing in front of a black man in a white service uniform.  Next to this photo is a woman with a shellacked hairdo & pristine dress poised on a yellow curb next to a chained post.  Also note the 3 friends holding hands at dusk.  None of the works are titled.  Their power speaks as vividly as the "blood red" colored ceiling photo.  The 1st photo in the gallery of a green building at sunset, lures you into the gallery with its mystical & mesmerizing colors.  The subject matter of American icons: diners, gas stations, parking lots, had been portrayed previously by photorealists painters such as Hopper.  Eggleston continues the  "war against the obvious."  Eggleston has been awarded the Royal Photographic Soc. Annv. Medal & earlier this year, the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award.  A visit into this subsidiary gallery is an imperative destination point.