Photography Research Assignment Erin Smith Eliot Porter Photography Research Assignment Erin Smith

Information about Eliot Porter Name: Eliot Porter Place of Birth: Winnetka, Illinois Date of Birth: December 6, 1901 Place of Death: St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico Date of Death: November 2, 1990

Information about Eliot Porter Eliot Porter introduced colorful landscape photography and that’s what he’s most known for. Mediums he used were original dye transfer, color photographic prints, gelatin silver, black-and-white photographic prints, original color transparencies and slides, as well as black-and-white negatives. His favorite subject matter was landscapes, specifically in color. Eliot was introduced to photography very young. He got his first camera in 1911 and began to photograph birds around his home and then at his family’s summer home in Maine. He was sent east for highschool and afterwards decided to follow the family tradition by enrolling at Harvard. Eliot was accepted into Harvard and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1923. At first he started working as a biochemical researcher at Harvard, but he still had a strong love for photography that he couldn’t ignore. After beginning to take up photography, Eliot was said to be on par with other leading photographers of his time. This as well as his brother’s encouragement lead him to decide to quit his job and take up photography full time. His use of color in landscape photographs gave his photos a distinct look, and he was considered the first person to do this.

Famous Photographs Chipping Sparrow Cliff Eastern Flicker Eliot also wrote books, which the public positively responded to. His pictures and books showed society the beauty of nature. His work was different and unique and appreciated by a lot of people. Most serious photographers of the time worked with black and white, but Eliot worked with color for the most part. This set him apart from the others and opened people’s eyes up to the colorful aspect of nature’s beauty in his own style. He showed society that he could express his message through his own style of work and not through the typical style of the time and day. He showed how beautiful life, nature, and the Earth overall are.

References www.cartermuseum.org www.nytimes.com www.getty.edu www.onlandscape.co.uk www.britannica.com

Gallery of Work (My favorites) Pinelands Fire

Sunflowers and Sand Dunes Gallery of Work Sunflowers and Sand Dunes

Gallery of Work Mushrooms on Log

Gallery of Work Fluted Schist

Personal Reflection The reason why I chose Eliot Porter as my photographer to do the assignment on is because I love his work. I love nature and his subject matter fits my tastes perfectly. I enjoy landscape photography as well, and I have never done it in black and white. I prefer to see the vivid colors that mother nature has to offer our eyes. He is really the father of my favorite type of photography and I respect him. He achieved a lot in his life such as graduating from Harvard, as well as having the guts to quit his job at Harvard to pursue his true dreams, something that a lot of people are unable to do. I do a lot of outdoorsy things so nature is a really important part of my life. I bike, run, do yoga, ski, rock climb, play tennis, kayak, and so much more, I am constantly surrounded by the outdoors because that’s where I’m happy and that’s how I was raised. My parents both ski and rock climb so as one would expect I inherited their love for nature and activity. About a year ago, I became interested in photography and got my first camera. Now it wasn’t as early as Porter, but I still hope to develop to be even half of the photographer he was. After a year, I still learn things everyday about photography everyday and I continue to work on improving my photography constantly. It has developed into a passion of mine, and I want to capture the beauty of life and nature in photos and show the world as Eliot and many other great photographers did and continue to do.

Recreated Photographs

Recreated Photographs