A democratic way of looking around (William Eggleston)

Published by Biblioklept

marcherman June 20, 20188:22 am Reply

Was Eggleston blind?

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1. Biblioklept June 21, 201811:01 am Reply
  
  No, he is not blind.
  
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  1. marcherman June 21, 20186:08 pm Reply
    
    Then why does he talk like one? If nothing is more or less important then you see either all things together at once—arguably a privilege of the gods—or you see nothing at all but imagine those things all the better for it—what the Greeks understood as a privilege of the blind seeer.
    
    What those Greeks most likely would not have understood is what Eggleston meant with “democracy”.
    
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    1. Biblioklept June 21, 201811:38 pm Reply
      
      I think he’s pointing to something closer to what Keats called negative capability.
      
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gregorystackpole June 20, 201810:26 am Reply

The eye is inherently selective; there is no way of looking that is democratic in this sense. This is a very helpful quote for the classroom to provoke discussion, though!

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1. Biblioklept June 21, 201811:02 am Reply
  
  I think he’s simply referring to what/how he “chooses” to photograph—that a photograph is about light and composition as much as it is about “theme,” and that his themes are evoked via light and composition.
  
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