It was Persistence

In 1939, nobody was taking color photographs of nature.  Black and white was king; it was art, and color was kitsch, a novelty, nothing to be taken seriously.

Eliot Porter felt differently.  Over a 50 year career as a scientist, environmentalist, and nature photographer, he helped elevate color photography to its own art form and the standard in the industry.

I was fortunate to take a class in college from an excellent photographer who knew Eliot Porter.  During a difficult time early in his career he received a letter from Eliot Porter with this bit of wisdom on being successful: “It was persistence.”

That is how Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, how the Wright brothers learned to fly, and  how DeepTarget has published The Microphone monthly for 5 years (not quite on the same level, I’ll grant you, but the principle is the same).

Persistence is how Eliot Porter changed photography for the world, and it is how you can find success at home or at the office, in your town or around the world.

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