Eliot Porter 

Eliot Porter was an American photographer who was known for his photographs of landscapes and birds. Porter was born on December 6, 1901, in Winnetka, Illinois. He took a lot of pictures of his family’s property on Great Spruce Head Island when he was a kid. Porter studied medicine and chemical engineering and worked as a biological researcher at Harvard University, but photography was his genuine passion. Porter’s career in photography began when he was introduced to Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz by a family friend. In 1938, Stieglitz exhibited Porter’s images in his New York exhibition. Porter dropped out of school to pursue photography full-time as a result of the exhibition’s success.

Eliot Porter began photographing in color at a period when the medium was widely regarded as “too literal” and so unsuitable for creative works. Porter learned black-and-white photography and darkroom methods as a youngster, and by the late 1930s, he had established himself as a master printer with a developing reputation. He began working in color photography in 1939, and by the 1950s, he had narrowed his concentration to nearly purely color photography. He mastered Kodak’s difficult dye transfer color printing method, which allowed him to fine-tune colors and produce consistent color prints. He began using professional printers to create his prints in 1962.

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Check out other artworks by Eliot Porter: https://www.andrewsmithgallery.com/exhibitions/eliotporter/portfolios/index.html

Notes:

When Porter used vibrant colors and intensity in his photographs, he was able to depict the actual beauty of nature. For many of the landscapes, he would use a tripod to stabilize the camera and take the image at the perfect time. I think for bird photography, it would be a little difficult to capture the perfect moment if the bird is moving and fluttering.  But it amazes me when I see such a close-up shot of a bird, to capture the wind-span of a small bird and be able to capture the details of the wings. From the color to the sharpness in some of the bird’s wings, it showcases Porter’s skills and great interest in photography. Many of Porter’s landscape photographs, truly look like paintings from the vivid colors that create Ombres in some of the images.  For me personally, I would have frightened the bird from a close shot. Bird photography definitely requires a lot of time and patience before capturing the right image. To fully showcase the sceneries through the camera lens and the audience, I believe I would have to travel far to find specific landscapes and edit photographs.