Eliot Porter
December 6th, 1901- November 2nd, 1990
Personal Background: Eliot Porter was born on December 6th, 1901 in Winnetka, Illinois, the 2nd of 5 children. He received his first camera in 1911, when he was 10 years old. He took his first photos at Great Spruce Head Island, in Penobscot Bay, Maine. He would later become famous for taking photos in Maine. Porter graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1923 and a medical degree in 1929. He started out as a biochemical researcher at Harvard, with taking pictures of birds and landscapes as a hobby, but later turned being a photographer into a career.
Style: Eliot Porter’s style early on was black and white photos of birds and landscapes. Later on he would use Kodachrome color film. He was a nature/landscape photographer. Many of his photographs were taken in places with a lot of biological diversity. Porter was interested in taking photos of lots of different plants and animals. His style was closest to landscape painters.
Philosophy: Porter’s photographs were trying to tell the importance of nature’s diversity. Trained as a scientist, he was very interested in the biology and life cycle or lichen, spiders, and mosquitos. He was an environmentalist. His work was political because he wanted to show people the value of the environment, especially environments with many different species. Porter published his first photography book with the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was a transcendentalist, believing in nature as a way of finding peace and truth.
Influences: Porter has influenced me in my work because he took photos of nature and I really like taking photos of nature. I also used to go to Maine every summer when I was younger, and he would spend his summers in Maine. The book he published with writings from Thoreau is in the cabin that I used to stay in! When I look at his photographs, it makes me want to spend more time taking each photograph. His attention to detail is inspirational.
Sources:
The J. Paul Getty Museum Eliot Porter: In the Realm of Nature Lichens on River Stones
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/porter/
Eliot Porter Collection Guide Snowy Egret
http://www.cartermuseum.org/collections/porter/collection.php?asn=P1990-52-31&mcat=3&scat=9
Shutterbug Eliot Porter: In The Realm Of Nature: A New Book With Images From A Master Of Nature Photography Peeling Birch Bark
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/eliot-porter-realm-nature-new-book-images-master-nature-photography#YvjPxlxp17vQwSlq.97
Sources:
http://www.cartermuseum.org/collections/porter/about.php
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Eliot-Porter
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/porter/
December 6th, 1901- November 2nd, 1990
Personal Background: Eliot Porter was born on December 6th, 1901 in Winnetka, Illinois, the 2nd of 5 children. He received his first camera in 1911, when he was 10 years old. He took his first photos at Great Spruce Head Island, in Penobscot Bay, Maine. He would later become famous for taking photos in Maine. Porter graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1923 and a medical degree in 1929. He started out as a biochemical researcher at Harvard, with taking pictures of birds and landscapes as a hobby, but later turned being a photographer into a career.
Style: Eliot Porter’s style early on was black and white photos of birds and landscapes. Later on he would use Kodachrome color film. He was a nature/landscape photographer. Many of his photographs were taken in places with a lot of biological diversity. Porter was interested in taking photos of lots of different plants and animals. His style was closest to landscape painters.
Philosophy: Porter’s photographs were trying to tell the importance of nature’s diversity. Trained as a scientist, he was very interested in the biology and life cycle or lichen, spiders, and mosquitos. He was an environmentalist. His work was political because he wanted to show people the value of the environment, especially environments with many different species. Porter published his first photography book with the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was a transcendentalist, believing in nature as a way of finding peace and truth.
Influences: Porter has influenced me in my work because he took photos of nature and I really like taking photos of nature. I also used to go to Maine every summer when I was younger, and he would spend his summers in Maine. The book he published with writings from Thoreau is in the cabin that I used to stay in! When I look at his photographs, it makes me want to spend more time taking each photograph. His attention to detail is inspirational.
Sources:
The J. Paul Getty Museum Eliot Porter: In the Realm of Nature Lichens on River Stones
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/porter/
Eliot Porter Collection Guide Snowy Egret
http://www.cartermuseum.org/collections/porter/collection.php?asn=P1990-52-31&mcat=3&scat=9
Shutterbug Eliot Porter: In The Realm Of Nature: A New Book With Images From A Master Of Nature Photography Peeling Birch Bark
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/eliot-porter-realm-nature-new-book-images-master-nature-photography#YvjPxlxp17vQwSlq.97
Sources:
http://www.cartermuseum.org/collections/porter/about.php
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Eliot-Porter
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/porter/