The Last Dyes

This momentous publication catalogues the last major group of William Eggleston’s photographs to ever be produced using the dye-transfer method, the format in which he originally presented his work.

Eggleston’s vivid photographs transform the ordinary into distinctive, poetic images that eschew fixed meaning. One of the foremost practitioners in the medium’s history, Eggleston is widely considered the father of color photography. He pioneered the use of dye-transfer printing for art photography in the 1970s. The technically advanced process―first developed by Kodak in the 1940s―allowed him to achieve the richness of tonal depth and color saturation that he had been searching for.

In the early 1990s, Kodak stopped producing the dyes, paper, and film used in the process. With the necessary materials now discontinued, and the bulk of what remained being used for the major group of work presented at David Zwirner in Los Angeles, The Last Dyes marks the final presentation of new works completed in this medium.

The publication includes a new essay by Jeffrey Kastner, offering critical insights into Eggleston’s enduring influence at this turning point in the history of photography.