It began with a conversation with Walter Hopps, founding director of the Menil Collection. I was working as the receptionist and switchboard operator at the Menil Collection. One day when Walter called in, I asked him about Eggleston—he said, "William Eggleston and Paul Outerbridge are the two geniuses of color photography."
Walter had seen an exhibition of my photographs and a portfolio of my pictures, and he encouraged me during our conservation to “take more pictures of the Deep South.” It was a perplexing statement because I hadn’t photographed the Deep South enough to justify his use of the word 'more'; nevertheless, what he said made a memorable impression.
Inspired by Walter’s statement, I decided to drive to Memphis where I hoped to meet Mr. Eggleston. I wrote a letter to him expressing my interest in doing so. With the help of my friend Mari Omori, who joined me on the trip, and Joan Terry, who lives in Germantown just outside of Memphis, we were able to arrange an initial meeting with Winston Eggleston. He showed us several portfolios, including Coca-Cola, Seven, and Southern Suite. And then Winston asked, “Do you still want to meet my dad?”