Evocative colour portrait

When thinking of colour portraits where colour in the photograph is used to say something about the subject, or express who they are as a person, this photo by William Eggleston immediately came to mind. In the center of the frame we see a petite, yet extremely stern old woman who is presumably standing in the den or living room of her home. I love the desaturated, mundane colour pallet of this photo; I believe it says a lot about the subject. All of the colours in the room seem to be mimicked by something else in the room at least once. For example: the curtains, brick of the fireplace, and colour of the chair (reflected in the mirror) are all the same tone as the woman's skin. The reddish brown tones seen in the shelf over the fireplace, the desk/wooden chair, floor boards, and paddle-like object on the wall are all similar to each other. This repetition of colour gives the viewer a feeling of the quotidian life lived by this woman. The subject of this photo really pops because her sweater is the only truly white object in the photograph. Things that we would expect to be white, such as the papers on the desk or matting of the pictures, are all desaturated and allow for no distractions from the white of her sweater. William Eggleston's work is fabulous, and I believe this photo is a great example of the subtle use of colour to say something about the subject.