Eliot Porter

American, 1901 - 1990

Porter was born in 1901 outside of Chicago. He graduated from Harvard in 1929 with a medical degree. In 1938, famous photographer Alfred Stieglitz offered Porter a one person exhibit at his gallery, which made Porter realize he had the talent to pursue fine arts. He abandoned his medical career in order to pursue photography. Porter chose to photograph in color, not conforming to the traditional black and white photographs of his colleagues. He gained acclaim as a photographer and author following the publication of his book, In Wilderness is the Preservation of the World in 1962. Porter’s photographs depict his love of birds, the landscapes of Maine, the Adirondacks, and distant locations of Mexico and Antarctica among others.