Eggleston sued by collector over sale of new edition of photographs

 

General Photography

“Trade divided over production of large prints of some of the photographer’s best known works, but buyers love them” is an apt description for what just happened: Reprints of some of William Eggleston’s most well-known images raked in the jumbo juice, almost $6m, while there were rumblings about whether or not this was such a good idea. These rumblings then erupted when a collector, Jonathan Sobel, filed a lawsuit against Eggleston. In an opinion piece, Felix Salmon tried to explain what was really going on, and there are many valuable details in his argument. I’m not sure I buy (pardon the pun) Salmon’s dismissal of the lawsuit as merely some bruised ego, though. That seems to be a tad simplistic, especially if you read this interview with Mr Sobel. In part, it centers on limited editions and on the fact that when Mr Sobel bought his prints, there was no word of a possible larger edition. You definitely want to read the interview, since I have the feeling that some of the points raised in it we will hear a lot more about in the future.