More of Yankee’s favorite photographs from the fascinating exhibit “Everyday Maine,” featured in the September/October 2019 issue.
By Heather Marcus|Aug 21 2019|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan
When Yankee editor Mel Allen encountered the remarkable photo exhibit “Everyday Maine” earlier this year, he knew he wanted to bring it to Yankee’s readers. Following the procession of 120 photos through several rooms of the University of New England Art Gallery in Portland, he saw farmers and boatbuilders; migrant workers and asylum seekers; fishermen and mill workers; sled dog racers and kids running through strawberry fields. “Each portrait held its own story for the viewer to fill in,” he recalled.
With the help of the exhibit’s organizers and the individual photographers, Yankee assembled a group of images to publish in its September/October 2019 issue. But there were many, many more that our staffers fell in love with, so we decided to share a bonus online collection.
Everyday Maine | Bonus Photos
An editorial photographer based in Kennebunk, Michael D. Wilson captured this image of his friend Nate Conroy smelling a flower during a 2016 visit to what would become the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. “Nate was born and raised in Maine but moved away after high school,” Wilson says. “I wanted this story to be about him and how he was rediscovering his home state through [the wilderness]. In the end, the larger story that came out of this was really nice and is still one of my favorite projects I’ve worked on.” mdwphotographic.com Photo Credit : Michael D. WilsonAlso by Michael D. Wilson is this image of Doug Wilson in his Little Deer Isle blacksmith shop, taken as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Maine Craft Association. “I had taken several images of this moment from lower angles, but I felt like it was missing that explosive feel,” Wilson says. “Standing on a workbench gave me exactly what I was looking for. … When I zoomed in on the image to check focus, I noticed the sparks hitting Doug’s beard. When I showed him, he laughed and said, ‘That doesn’t normally happen, but I love it!’” mdwphotographic.com Photo Credit : Michael D. WilsonDocumentary photographer Nick Gervin captured this image of young band musicians during a 2014 “compassion march” in Portland, his hometown. Gervin has been making candid photographs of everyday life in Portland for more than seven years — from firefighters and police at work to people in the crowd at bars and concerts. He describes his work as being balanced between photojournalism and fine art, and he credits his own personal struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse (he’s been clean for nine years) for the sense of honesty in his photos. nicholasgervin.com Photo Credit : Nick GervinThis woman selling tickets to a sideshow at the 2002 Union Fair caught the eye of Dee Peppe, a veteran photographer and photography instructor. Currently a faculty member at the University of Maine, Peppe has taught students of all ages in a variety of settings, including Maine Media Workshops, and she is also the founder of the Rockland-based Coastal Maine Photo Tours. This photograph and the one below are part of her series titled “Foreign and Familiar,” which explores how humans interact with their environment. coastalmainephototours.com/dees-work/ Photo Credit : Dee PeppeOld Orchard Beach, 2002. coastalmainephototours.com/dees-work/ Photo Credit : Dee PeppeA commercial, editorial, and fine art photographer based in Portland, Tim Greenway was working on a story on groundfishing regulations in 2011 when he caught this moment of Kurt Durand flinging fish into a barrel onboard the Free Bird. When he’s not out shooting, Greenway teaches digital photography at the University of New England in Biddeford. timgreenway.com Photo Credit : Tim GreenwayAlso by Tim Greenway, this 2011 photograph captures the exhilaration of a winter ocean plunge as Shelly Thorp of Harrison, left, and Anita Day of North Fryeburg splash through the icy waters of Casco Bay during the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s annual Polar Bear Dip and Dash. timgreenway.com Photo Credit : Tim GreenwayPortland-based dance photographer Arthur Fink has years of experience in finding moments of gracefulness like this one: flamenco dance artist Lindsey Bourassa performing her own work, “El Lobo y La Paloma” (The Wolf and the Dove), which she created in honor of her late father. Fink has written: “I document the work and energy that goes into dance — not just the final performance. Being in the studio as dances are created, or even as dancers prepare themselves, feels like being in a delivery room as children are being born.” arthurfinkphoto.com Photo Credit : Arthur FinkOriginally inspired by the sight of a tractor driving into the mist at Maxwell Farm, photographer Susan Porter spent 10 months documenting the 2005 growing season at the Cape Elizabeth family farm — from the snow-covered fields in March to the straw-covered fields in December. She amassed more than 2,500 negatives, which she ultimately culled down to a 35-photograph project titled “A Season Under the Sun.” Here, two youngsters head into the pick-your-own strawberry fields at the farm. addisonwoolley.com/ss-susanporter.htm Photo Credit : Susan PorterThis candid moment in Tommy’s Park in Portland was caught by retired attorney Bill Shumaker, an avid amateur photographer and past president of the Portland Camera Club. In the words of Bruce Brown, one of the creative forces behind the “Everyday Maine” exhibit: “This intimate small photograph speaks to Portland’s remarkable growth as a tourist destination in the past decade as well as the presence of modern-day technologies that rule our everyday lives.” aurelianimagery.zenfolio.com Photo Credit : Bill Shumaker
