William Eggleston (b.1939, Memphis, USA) photographs scenes of everyday life with a ‘snapshot’ style. He is known for his use of the Dye Transfer process that enables greater photographic control and highly-saturated, colour images. Eggleston increased the acceptance of colour photography in art galleries and, in 1976, was the first photographer to be given a solo exhibition of colour work at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
This image is one of several thousand photographs he took in his hometown and during road trips across the Southern States in the 1960s and 1970s. Eggleston gave this work the umbrella title of Los Alamos, after the New Mexico laboratory associated with the development of atomic weapons.
This photograph featured as part of the Touchstone programme (2012-2020). Each display consisted of a single photographic work on the Eranda studio floor where visitors were invited to respond to the question 'What do you see?' using the cards and pencils provided. A bench was placed in front of the work, encouraging people to spend a little longer than they might usually. The programme was part of a wider series of projects and activities related to visual literacy.
A selection of audience responses to the question 'What do you see?'
