William Eggleston's Stranded in Canton

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—01. Photographs by William Eggleston.

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I was recommended William Eggleston’s film, Stranded in Canton, a while ago when discussing his work with a colleague, unbeknownst to me that on top of his influential body of photographs he had also produced this bizarre and innovative piece of video art. Shot using a black-and-white Sony Portapak unit with an infrared tube attached so he could record in dark places without lights, the outcome is part Southern Gothic circus sideshow and part hallucinatory cinéma-vérité documentation. In 2009, it was released as a book featuring 40 frame enlargements and other bonus materials, as well as a DVD copy of the remastered film. This volume, published by Twin Palms, is definitely one to check out, especially if you're interested in the fringes of 1970s American artistic expression or want to gain a deeper understanding of a highly influential career that is still going strong.

—Available from Photo-Eye Bookstore