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Eliot Porter was an American photographer best known for his color photographs of nature.
An amateur photographer since childhood, Eliot Porter earned degrees in chemical engineering and medicine, and worked as a biochemical researcher at Harvard University. In 1938, Alfred Stieglitz showed Eliot Porter's work in his New York City gallery. The exhibit's success prompted Eliot Porter to leave Harvard and pursue photography full-time. In the 1940s, he began working in color with Eastman Kodak's new dye transfer process, a technique Eliot Porter would use his entire career.
Eliot Porter's reputation increased following the publication of his 1962 book, "In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World". Published by the Sierra Club, the book featured Eliot Porter's color nature studies of the New England woods and quotes by Henry David Thoreau. A best-seller; several editions of the book have been printed.
Eliot Porter traveled extensively to photograph ecologically important and culturally significant places. He published books of photographs from Glen Canyon (Utah), Maine, Baja California, Galápagos Islands, Antarctica, East Africa, and Iceland. Cultural studies included Mexico, Egypt, China, and ancient Greek sites.
James Gleick’s book, "Chaos: Making a New Science (1987)", caused Eliot Porter to reexamine his work in the context of chaos theory. In 1990, Eliot Porter published, Nature's Chaos which combined his photographs with Gleick's writings.
Eliot Porter bequeathed his personal archive to the Amon Carter Museum. Eliot Porter's brother, Fairfield Porter, was a realist painter and art critic. His brother-in-law Michael W. Straus was the commissioner of the federal Bureau of Reclamation.
Member of The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD)
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