If you are fortunate enough to have these two Eggleston's books: Chromes and the ten-volume Democratic Forest (both published by Steidl) you'll need The Outlands. This three-book set of 405 photos is the final collection of his remarkable colour work. I was pleased to read that none of this work has been published before.
The photos were taken in the early seventies in the suburbs of Memphis and the surrounding Mississippi. The first picture in book one was taken at nearly the same spot as the now-famous kid's tricycle used on the front cover of his 'Guide'. So from that place in Memphis, you turn the pages and travel with Eggleston as he reveals his interpretation of local commonplace. This is very much a view of man-made America with its houses, gas stations, retail units and colourful product signs everywhere. These catch his eye especially if the typography has seen better days. There are many wonderful head-on shots of buildings, frequently derelict, that fill three-quarters of the frame and the other quarter is the highway going off into the distance and full of commercial strip colour.
The three books are mostly exterior shots and I found some loose themes. Book one: has eight photos of the black community, fifteen of house interiors. Book two: six and seventeen of cars and seventeen of signs. Book three: the last twenty-eight pages have photos taken at dusk and nighttime. A wonderful conclusion to the work of this master of colour and composition.
The books come in a sturdy slipcase. Quality printing by Steidl with a 175 screen on a semi-smooth matt art paper. Incidentally, the title comes from a photo of a lettering sign on the front lawn of the Outlands family with part of their home in the background (book one, page thirty-five).
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