Fine Art Photography at MoMA, Including Eliot Porter

While strolling through MoMA briefly (which I like to do if I’m in midtown and have a half an hour for a break), taking advantage of my artist pass, I came across a rehanging by an artist.  One room was dedicated to the nature photographer and color precisionist Eliot Porter.

Expecting more of the same (beautiful yet seemingly surface-oriented), the selection was a strange grouping of birds in nests, taken in the 1940-1950s.  The one above  seems typical of the set.

After thinking about it, it seems these were all taken without Eliot Porter actually seeing what he photographed.  The images must have been at low light or at night and required flash.  Also, being so close to the subject–the lenses didnt seem to be extremely long telephone ones–seems impossible without disturbing the feeding, resting, etc. of the birds.  So, they must be taken intuitively, which is something I use in making my fine art photographs.  I never thought I’d have much in common with Eliot Porter, but this is an odd, interesting set of photographs.