Eliot Porter

Presented by: Libby Kielb

Eliots Background
- Lived December 6, 1901 - November 2, 1990
- Started taking photographs of birds at a young
age
- Undergraduate degree in Chemical
Engineering (1924) and Medicine Degree
(1929) from Harvard University
- He always had a passion for science and the
environment

Influencers
Ansel Adams

Alfred Steiglitz

Style
-

Started out with Black and White pictures

Transfer dye prints
Introduce color to landscapes
A majority of his work was in series that were to
particular locations such as Glen Canyon, the
Adirondacks, and Maine.
- He then moved to more places with more variety
in things to photograph in nature. These places
included: Baja California, Mexico, the Galpagos,
East Africa, and Antarctica.
Young Osprey, Great Spruce Head Island,
Maine, July 9, 1940

The Sierra Club

-

Founded in 1892
Organization geared towards environment and wilderness protection
Porter was a director with Ansel Adams in the 1960s.
They both contributed black and white pictures to the first Exhibit Format Books.
This Is the American Earth (1960)
- His first color series was published through one of their books. In Wildness Is the
Preservation of the World (1962). With quotes from Henry David Thoreau.
- The photos that he took for the books published through the Sierra Club, got him
notice internationally, and helped gain awareness for improving and saving the
wilderness.

In Wilderness Is the Preservation of the World.

Concord River, Concord, Massachusetts, October 16, 1952

Pond, Grass and Lily Pads, Madison, New Hampshire, October 1, 1952

Red Maple and Birches, Road to Passaconaway, New Hampshire,

October 11, 1953

Maple Leaves and Pine Needles, Tamworth, New

Hampshire, October 3, 1956

Pond Brook, Whiteface Intervale, New Hampshire, October 5, 1956

Maple and Birch Trunks and Oak Leaves, Passaconaway

Road, New Hampshire, October 7, 1956

Birches and Hemlock in Snow Storm, West Otis,

Massachusetts, March 8, 1957

Red Maple by Lake, Bear Mountain Park, New York, April 11,
1957

Hudson River, Frozen, Adirondacks, New York, 1958

Red Ozier, near Great Barrington, Massachusetts, April 18,
1957

Shad Bushes, Mount Washington, Massachusetts, May 21, 1961

Wood Pool with Leaves on Bottom, Chocorua, New Hampshire, May 7, 1961

Hawkweed in Meadow, Great Spruce Head Island,

Maine, 1968

Maple Sapling and Rock, Passaconaway, New

Hampshire, 1953

Shadbush, near Hillsborough, New Hampshire, April, 28,

1957

Beach Branch and Landscape, Tinmouth, Vermont, February 15,

1958

Works Cited
"Eliot Porter: About Eliot Porter." Eliot Porter Collection Guide. Amon Carter Museum, 1990. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. <http://www.
cartermuseum.org/collections/porter/about.php>.
Martineau, Paul. Eliot Porter In the Realm of Nature. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2012. Print.
"Eliot Porter, In Wildness Portfolio." Eliot Porter, In Wildness Portfolio. Daniel Wolf Press. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://www.
afterimagegallery.com/porterinwildness2.htm>.
"Eliot Porter Biography." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://www.britannica.
com/biography/Eliot-Porter>.