On November 6, I went to the Whitney Museum of American Art for the opening of the William Eggleston’s exhibition The Democratic Camera.  I consider William Eggleston to be one of the fathers of color photography. I used to stare at his images in photo books for hours at the library when I was Stephen Shore’s photography student art Bard College.  His strange images were a huge influence on me.  Eggleston made it ok to turn snapshots into works of art, and therefore he made me feel more confident about my own early images.  He is a master when it comes to color.  The richness in the way Eggleston printed his images was something very new at the time.

Photo by William Eggleston
In my opinion this is one of Eggleston’s best photographs.  It displays the sheer bliss of light (sunlight) and photography, my two favorite things.

I showed up alone at the opening but I ran into a few friends, which was an unexpected surprise. It is always a nice to bump into people from a another part of your life at a completely different kind of event.  I saw my friend Kirsten there who happens to be an old family friend of the curator of the exhibition Elisabeth Sussman. Kirsten immediately introduced me to Sussman and her brother Paul Sacks. We were all very excited for Sussman!  I have admired her curatorial work for years and it was a pleasure to meet her.

Elisabeth Sussman and her brother Paul Sacks

Kirsten Sonnenberg and Paul Sacks

With my mentor Charles Traub, the head of the SVA MFA Photography program.

Then as if it was not already an amazing night,  I had a chance to walk through the exhibition with Dan Bell?!!  It is always great to see how another artist that I admire reacts to iconic works of art.

Photo by William Eggleston
Dan Bell could relate to this photo because he tours all the time.
More images at www.egglestontrust.com