In 1983, photographer William Eggleston was invited by the estate of Elvis Presley to photograph Graceland, the musician’s grand mansion in Memphis, Tennessee.

Eggleston’s quirky snapshot approach made him an unlikely choice by the estate, but his status as a native of Memphis and his deep connections to the Memphis music scene (a musician himself) made him the perfect photographer to document the shrine.

In the spring of 1957, Elvis Presley was completing his second Hollywood movie, Loving You, and his first movie soundtrack album. He had two studio albums and 48 singles already under his belt and two years of nearly nonstop live appearances behind him.
If his life had taken a different path, the spring of 1957 might have seen Elvis Presley filling out law school applications or interviewing for his first job as college graduation approached. But the hardworking son of Gladys and Vernon Presleywas already his family’s primary breadwinner in the spring of 1957, and already looking, at the tender age of 22, to purchase them a new home for the second time. He found that home on the outskirts of Memphis—a southern Colonial mansion on a 13.8-acre wooded estate.
With a $1,000 cash deposit against a sale price of $102,500, Elvis Presley agreed to purchase the home called Graceland on March 19, 1957.”

The resulting eleven images are masterfully rendered in the saturated colors of the dye transfer process and show Eggleston working at the peak of his talents. Together they represent a remarkable document of the an iconic American home, perfectly named; Graceland.

William Eggleston, William Eggleston’s Graceland, 1984, complete portfolio of 11 prints. Est. $180,000 – 280,000 • Phillips, Photographs • New York Auction • April 8, 2021