Eliot Porter - In the Realm of Nature: In the Realm of Nature

"Features the work of Eliot Porter, known for his innovative techniques in color photography to produce images of birds and wilderness landscapes"--
From the 1940s to mid-1970s, when his contemporaries believed only black and white were suitable for art-quality photographs, American photographer Eliot Porter (1901-1990) increasingly favored color in the creation of his landscapes. Widely published in 25 monographs, his work explored new ways of capturing the natural world, sometimes pairing photographs with inspirational quotations from writers such as Thoreau. Porter served on the Sierra Club's board of directors in the 1960s, along with Ansel Adams; one of Porter's books of photographs, In Wilderness is the Preservation of the World (1962) is credited with influencing the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964. In this text, Martineau (Dept. of Photographs, J. Paul Getty Museum) assembles a collection of 95 of Porter's breathtaking photographs, accompanied by an essay on Porter's life and contributions to the practice of photography. Oversize: 9.75x11.25". Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Known for his exquisite images of birds and landscape, Eliot Porter (American, 1901–1990) was a pioneer in the use of color photography. His work also became a powerful visual argument for environmental conservation. Trained as a medical doctor and possessing a scientist's gift for close observation, Porter explored new ways of depicting nature, building blinds in trees so he could study his avian subjects at closer vantage, and producing landscape images that capture both pristine forest and ragged river canyons with equal force and brilliance. Initially encouraged by the groundbreaking photographers Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz, Porter went on to produce a body of work all his own. His 1962 Sierra Club book In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World, with its images grouped by season and accompanied by quotations from Henry David Thoreau, transformed the concept of nature photography books. Ultimately, Porter's photographs came to the attention of Congress and led to the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, the foundational law in wilderness management today.Eliot Porter: In the Realm of Nature contains 110 images from the collections of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser; the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; and of the J. Paul Getty Museum, along with an essay by Paul Martineau that discusses Porter's life and the innovations he brought to the practice of photography.