Shot in 1974 with a Sony Porta-pak, the crazily careering ”Stranded in Canton” documents a cast of hard-drinking Southerners with the intimacy, ease and instability of a seasoned participant.
In one sequence, a man with peroxide hair, makeup and a sequined T-shirt sings old love songs, swanning around with a toilet-paper boa. In others shots are fired; good old boys decapitate chickens; and a young bearded man with an angelic face raves about being stranded in Canton, a colloquialism for being out of one’s mind on drugs or alcohol. Whiffs of Southern Gothic are not new to Mr. Eggleston’s work, but here they rise to the surface — fierce, tragic and proud.
In one sequence, a man with peroxide hair, makeup and a sequined T-shirt sings old love songs, swanning around with a toilet-paper boa. In others shots are fired; good old boys decapitate chickens; and a young bearded man with an angelic face raves about being stranded in Canton, a colloquialism for being out of one’s mind on drugs or alcohol. Whiffs of Southern Gothic are not new to Mr. Eggleston’s work, but here they rise to the surface — fierce, tragic and proud.
(New York Times)
William Eggleston’s “Stranded in Canton”
Directed by William Eggleston – Twin Palms, 2008
Book and DVD to be released Fall 2008 to coincide with Whitney exhibit
southernist.com 