Eliot Porter: All the Wild Places

Drawn from the Farnsworth’s collection, this exhibition explores the work of photographer Eliot Porter (1901-1990) who introduced color to landscape photography.

In so doing, he created a new way of viewing the world that today has become commonplace. An artist with strong scientific and environmental interests, Porter took up color in 1939, long before his fellow photographers accepted the medium, to produce more accurate photographs of birds. Soon thereafter, he expanded his focus to celebrate the colorful beauty of nature in general. Over a fifty-year career that includes works from Maine to China, he built a broad popular reputation based on thousands of richly hued prints and twenty-five books. His work energized environmentalists, drew accolades from museums, and created the foundations for today’s color nature photography. He had a lifelong connection to Maine, having spent every summer since childhood with his family on Great Spruce Head Island, a place that first inspired his interest in photography, initially in black and white and soon after in color. The exhibition is organized by Farnsworth Curator Jane Bianco.

This exhibition is part of the Farnsworth’s Maine 200 bicentennial celebration First to Hail the Rising Sun. Funding for First to Hail the Rising Sun: Maine Through the Eyes of its Artists is provided by Camden National Bank, the Premier Sponsor of our bicentennial exhibitions; and by donors to our exhibition development and education fund.

Premier Sponsor of our Bicentennial Exhibitions