William Eggleston's evocative portraits of America to be shown at Photo London

Eggleston's images present a contemporaneous world that continues to exert a powerful fascination

Eggleston pioneered colour photography at a time when to be thought serious in the medium meant working in black and white (© William Eggleston)

In capturing the beauty of everyday American life in the mid-20th century, William Eggleston pioneered colour photography at a time when to be thought serious in the medium meant working in black and white.

Mississippi, where he was brought up, forms the backdrop to many of his most famous photographs, and in inviting the viewer to look differently at such familiar sights as power lines, gas stations, road signs, and vending machines, they are not exactly ‘Mad Men’ but they present a contemporaneous world that continues to exert a powerful fascination.

For Eggleston, who turns 86 in July, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s book ‘The Decisive Moment’ was a key text in his artistic development, which took its most important turn in the mid-1960s when he started shooting in colour.

A selection of his work shows at Photo London from 21-24 May, featuring images he made at this time and in the years that immediately followed.

William Eggleston’s work will be displayed by Santa Monica’s ROSEGALLERY as part of Photo London, the city’s international photography fair, which takes place from 21-24 May at Somerset House and features more than 70 exhibitors from the world’s leading galleries and publishers. See photolondon.org