A detail from an untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.
A detail from an untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston: The Democratic Forest

William Eggleston has said, "I am at war with the obvious." He developed his singular pictorial style photographing daily scenes with the attitude that "no subject matter is more or less important than another." His pioneering use of color and innate aptitude for form and composition transform the ordinary—from sidewalks to laundry rooms, diners and ceiling fans—into distinctive and poetic images.

These works, most of which had never been exhibited publicly before, were chosen from thousands taken on Eggleston's travels through America and Europe during the 1980s. As Vicky Goldberg wrote in a review of the show in The New York Times, "Mr. Eggleston's adroit compositions and vibrant light teasingly suggest that a larger story lurks within the minutiae of everyday existence."

The fully illustrated publication includes an original text by Alexander Nemerov and quotations from Eudora Welty, who wrote about the American South. Published by David Zwirner Books | Steidl. Read an excerpt in the New York Review of Books.

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For more information about available works contact inquiries@davidzwirner.com

Installation view of the exhibition William Eggleston: The Democratic Forest, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2016.
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 inches (114.3 x 166.1 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 inches (114.3 x 166.1 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 inches (114.3 x 166.1 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 inches (114.3 x 164.1 cm)
Installation view of the exhibition William Eggleston: The Democratic Forest, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2016.

"A clear spring rises somewhere on the home place, for the human strain begins there for Mr. Eggleston, and we see it in what follows: it turns into a river that runs through, or underneath, every place succeeding it. Whatever is done to block it or stop its flow, it surfaces again. Pure human nature proves itself in likely or unlikely places." — Eudora Welty

An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 inches (164.8 x 114.3 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
28 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches (73 x 52.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1988.

William Eggleston

 Untitled, c. 1988
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 inches (164.8 x 114.3 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 inches (164.8 x 111.8 cm)

As Alexander Nemerov writes in the catalogue published by David Zwirner Books | Steidl, these photographs evoke the vivid continuum at the heart of Eggleston's work, one "Pulled along by the world, by things outside the artist, rather than compelled by something inside him."

An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 inches (114.3 x 166.1 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 inches (114.3 x 166.1 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 166.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 x 2 1/4 inches (164.8 x 111.8 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 63 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 161.3 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 63 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 161.3 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 inches (114.3 x 166.1 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 166.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 inches (114.3 x 164.1 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 inches (164.8 x 111.8 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 x 2 1/4 inches (164.8 x 114.3 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 inches (164.8 x 114.3 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 x 2 1/4 inches (164.8 x 111.8 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1988.

William Eggleston

 Untitled, c. 1988
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 inches (164.8 x 114.3 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 x 2 1/4 inches (164.8 x 111.8 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 x 2 1/4 inches (164.8 x 111.8 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
64 7/8 x 45 x 2 1/4 inches (164.8 x 111.8 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 inches (114.3 x 164.1 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 65 3/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 166.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
45 x 64 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches (114.3 x 164.1 x 5.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 28 3/4 inches (52.7 x 73 cm)
An untitled photography by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
28 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches (73 x 52.7 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 73 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 73 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 29 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 74 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 73 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 29 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 74 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 29 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 74 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 29 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 74 x 4.4 cm)
An untitled photograph by William Eggleston, circa 1983 to 1986.

William Eggleston

Untitled, c. 1983-1986
Pigment print
20 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches (52.7 x 73 x 4.4 cm)

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          The Democratic Forest

          William Eggleston

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