Fragment from Balustrade of the Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens

Stillman worked as a landscape painter in New York City from 1848 to 1858. In 1859, he produced a series of photographs on the Adirondack region. That same year, moved to Europe and from 1861 to 1865, he served as the American consul in Rome. During this period he produced a series of topographical and architectural photographs of Rome and Florence. From 1865 to 1868, Stillman served as the consul in Crete (now Greece). In 1869, he moved to Athens where he photographed the Acropolis, and produced an album of prints entitled "The Acropolis of Athens; Illustrated Picturesquely and Architecturally in Photography" (London, 1870). In 1870, Stillman moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelite artists. In 1874, he travelled to the United States and photographed in Cambridge, Massachusetts and along the Charles River. From 1886 to 1898, Stillman became the London Times newspaper correspondent for Italy and Greece. In 1898 Stillman retired to Surrey, England, United Kingdom.