Eliot Porter (1) (1901–1990)

There were some lovely and thought provoking sentiments in this, along with pretty photos. Some of the photos suffer from the age they were taken in, printed color photographs (which had true colors), in books was just becoming feasible in the 1960s. The photographer has an artist's eye, and he tried to keep them thematic and complementary to Thoreau's writings. I didn't plan to keep this book, but there are a few journal entries which make me not want to send it on its way immediately. I have room on the shelf, so it stays for now.… (mere)

Nature's chaos presents colour photographs by Eliot Porter, each highlighting a different element of his lifelong fascination with what he calls the "jumble and disorder in nature". The scenes span 35 years and five continents - from the Antartic ice floe to the American desert to the Icelandic lava field. They featuere the wildness - the chaos of mountains and forest regions, plains and deserts, rivers and coastlines. Porter selects the photographs to illustrate the orderly disorder described in James Gleick's recent book, "Chaos". In an essay of 10,000 words, and in text accompanying the photographs, James Gleick describes the links being forged between the abstractions of science and the vivid images of natural beauty. Some artists have long tried to subdue and civilize nature, to pull its fangs, just as scientists have tried to organize and classify the wildness they found. Now, however, science and art together are finding a new way to perceive nature's chaos.… (mere)