Thesis Statements

1. Susan Sontag talks about photographs as a talisman. A piece of time captured that connects you to a moment of your life. This idea of a talisman could be Eggleston's meaning behind his photographs. His childhood in the south is whats being represented in these photos. People, places and things he at one time was connected to and these photos keep him in that moment in his life. The truth of a photo is whats captured out of a million possible photos that could be taken in your surroundings, and Eggleston chose his photographs strategically. You could take any one of his photographs and make a story of its meaning in any direction, maybe that's what Eggleston wants. Not only do these pictures serve as a talisman to his past, but maybe to yours as well. Maybe we are intended to look at these photos as a glimpse into Eggleston's life but also as a glimpse into our own.

 2. Simplicity of the everyday life; A child's bike, or a the serenity of a cemetery against a blue sky. Are these images what they seem or is there more. John Szarkowski seems to think these images are as they seem : simple. The viewer is intended to see jut what the photograph is, not to read into it and make up a story or a reason for the photo but just to simply enjoy the scene. Maybe Eggleston truly had no reason for taking these photos rather than for the pure pleasure of photography. These photos are so simple-minded that anyone could capture them and that's quite possibly all Eggleston wanted to do. Everyone has passed by something aesthetically pleasing to them that they wish they could take a photo of just to remember the beauty of that object.The pure excitement of taking a picture with absolutely no story or reason behind it. These photos could have no reason behind them at all but to please a viewer with simple taste.