The Color of Wildness: A Retrospective, 1936-1985

Eliot Porter: The Color of Wildness is the first in-depth retrospective of Porter's work. Over the course of his long career, Porter has photographed familiar landscapes, like the coast of Maine where he spent childhood summers, as well as well as strange, remote places like the Galapagos Islands. With the success of his Sierra Club publication In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World, Selections and Photographs by Eliot Porter (1962), Porter became an ambassador for environmental causes. His ecological interests led to a fascination with humanity's cultural roots. An essay by curator John Rohrbach addresses Porter's break with the classical techniques of the master Modernists Paul Strand and Ansel Adams. An essay by Porter's son Jonathan, who often accompanied his father on photographic expeditions, discusses Porter's lifelong love of the natural world, his working methods, and his interests outside of photography. Rebecca Solnit's essay positions Porter's work within the environmental movement and the political climate of the 1960s.
“[Porter's images] ... are secure in the history of the medium and contribute to the highest standards and achievements of the art.” --Ansel Adams

Eliot Porter, born in Illinois in 1901, began to photograph birds and landscapes as a boy. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. He died in 1990.