Thesis Statements

William Eggleston's work captures the social and cultural aspects of life in the south by giving off a sense of loneliness in a world full of color and life.

"A pictures says a thousand words." Whether Eggleston wanted too or not he told a story through his photography and in that story he captures the social and cultures aspects of life in the south.

Susan Sontag refers to photography as a way of life, and Eggleston shows life in his photography. In a way photography can be classified as an open door to a world where a picture is more important than the real thing. Where people spend more time photographing an object rather than admiring and absorbing the beauty of the object itself.

Helen Levitt

Helen Levitt

Born: August 31, 1913

Lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Dropped out of High School her senior year and started working for J. Florian Mitchell, a portrait photographer in the Bronx.

Her first camera was a Voigtlander and she would shoot photos of her mother's friends.

In 1935 she met Cartier Bresson and accompanied him on a photo-shoot along the
Brooklyn waterfront.

She began training herself as a photographer at museums and galleries.

Fortune Magazine was the first to publish one of Levitt's photographs in 1939.

The next year one of her pictures was included in an exhibit at the inaugural exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art.

1943 she had her first solo showing of her photographs at the same museum.

She lived a long live and recently passed away at the age of 95.