Disneyland Castle 1962 by Diane Arbus

In Chelsea before the big snowfall, I went to the Richard Misrach show (see post below), and across the street, to see new photographs by Williams Eggleston and older, unpeopled, photographs by Diane Arbus. This Arbus work, though less known, has much of the same foreboding, edgy quality as her portraits. In the adjacent gallery, Eggleston’s bright saturated prints seem almost blinding after the Arbus darkness.

Photograph by William Eggleston — © Brian Rose

The Eggleston images are the usual visual nonsequiturs–often fascinating, often forgettable–inspired randomness at its best. But what does one take away from all this sniffing around? Without the history, it’s hard to imagine this work getting a show. I’m not sure if that reflects poorly on Eggleston or on the current state of our visual acuity. Whatever the case, after looking at Eggleston pictures, I end up seeing Eggleston pictures everywhere I go.

Photograph by William Eggleston — © Brian Rose

W23rd Street — © Brian Rose