- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam Andrew Christenberry Jr.
- William Christenberry was born on November 5, 1936 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. He is known for William Eggleston in the Real World (2005) and Coat of Many Colors (2001). He was married to Sandy. He died on November 28, 2016 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
- SpouseSandy(1967 - November 28, 2016) (his death, 3 children)
- The photographs for which he became famous show a vanishing Alabama with dilapidated buildings, rusting automobiles, advertising signs, and grave-sites. He took color photos at a time when most journalistic photographers worked in black and white.
- He was greatly influenced by "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men," the 1941 book of photographs by Walker Evans with a text by James Agee.
- When he was 8, he and his sister received a shared gift of a Brownie camera. He used that camera throughout his career.
- He studied painting at the University of Alabama, receiving a master's degree in 1959. He taught painting and drawing at Washington's Corcoran School of the Arts and Design for 40 years.
- Whenever someone asks why I always photograph in Alabama, I have to answer that, yes, I know there are other places, but Alabama is where my heart is.
- I don't want my work to be thought of as maudlin or overly sentimental. It's not. It's a love affair - a lifetime of involvement with a place. The place is my muse.
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