The King of Surburban Angst

William Eggelston to me, captures the magic, i.e. the suburban travails of the Holiday season better than anyone. While his pictures are not expressly about being home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, they somehow represent the experience. So I would like to say thanks to Mr. Eggelston and let’s all try find some irony & humor in our upcoming family scenarios, whether you will fight over the last piece of pumpkin pie or why Daddy loves your sister more than you, or how you have never forgiven your parents for not giving you a Ken doll on your 8th birthday. My divorced parents have spent all of their Holiday’s together so I am very familiar with ‘holiday horror shows.’ What makes his work so great is that he makes the insanity of suburban life seem normal. So we all revert to our 8 year old selves once or twice a year, at least now we can have some alcohol make it all go by in a haze. In Eggelston’s case perhaps this has not worked out so well. But despite the critique in his photos, their is an underlying love. And I think we can all relate to that.

Happy Thanksgiving!