At a compound in Harborside on Cape Rosier that has been in one family for more than a century, a friend of Richard Schultz's throws a traditional clambake.
Photo Credit: Richard Schultz
Nearing sunset at Reid State Park, Georgetown. Photo Credit: Richard Schultz
Richard Schultz left his Rhode Island home last August, carrying a map of Maine dotted with “spots I thought had potential.” His assignment: Roam the coast of Maine; capture the sights, the people, the moments. “This is my favorite thing to do,” he says. “I’m given a broad guideline, and then I interpret how my eye sees it without a detailed agenda. It’s a treat to take whatever catches my eye.”
The eye of Richard Schultz has been seen in national magazines for years, including Rolling Stone,Time, and National Geographic, and, during much of the 1990s, many of Yankee’s most memorable photos carried his name. About a decade ago, he took his vision to the world of commercial photography. “We’d have 50 to 75 people or more at a time on a set,” he says. “Everything had to be perfectly controlled.” Our asking him to just take off brought him back to his roots.
At a compound in Harborside on Cape Rosier that has been in one family for more than a century, a friend of Richard Schultz’s throws a traditional clambake. Photo Credit: Richard SchultzThe Kennebunk Plains, a Nature Conservancy site off Route 99, is one of the best blueberry picking spots in southern Maine. Photo Credit: Richard SchultzSparsely populated (and car-free) Peaks Island comes alive in summer with youth unafraid of Casco Bay’s chilly waters. Photo Credit: Richard SchultzPemaquid Point Lighthouse, overlooking Muscongus Bay on the tip of the Pemaquid Peninsula, attracts 100,000 visitors each year. Photo Credit: Richard Schultz
Schultz grew up by the sea, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. His cousin, Bill Eppridge, one of America’s most famous photojournalists (he shot the iconic photo of a busboy cradling Robert Kennedy’s head as he lay dying), took the teenaged Richard across the country on photo shoots. “It seemed an amazing career,” Schultz says. “People paying you to travel around the world–what more could you ask for?”
After studying photojournalism at Indiana University, Schultz apprenticed with Louie Psihoyos (director of The Cove, winner of this year’s Academy Award for best documentary). His life course was set.
Get Our FREE Yankee Best New England Vacations Guide!
“I use him as someone whom I totally look up to,” Schultz says. “Like when people say, ‘What would Jesus do?’ For me, it’s ‘What would Louie do?’ He’s the total consummate photographer. We were always on the road shooting. I gained insight into how you had to mentally prepare.”
Martin Gorham, a dragger fisherman, is just off his boat at Portland Fish Pier. “I love this picture,” says Schultz. “I love his looks, his attitude. He’s a total hardscrabble fisherman. It’s 11 a.m. and he’s just finished unloading his boat and they are going drinking.” Photo Credit: Richard SchutlzYouth is served on the shore at Ocean Park in the town of Old Orchard Beach. Photo Credit: Richard Schultz
When Richard Schultz came home from his Maine journey, he had traveled from Kittery to Mount Desert Island. (“The coast of Acadia,” he says, “deserves a whole separate trip. I want to go back.”) He brought with him more than 9,000 frames. “I find it totally freeing to shoot a lot,” he says. “I’m driven by light. It’s the light that makes images beautiful. And I love the juxtaposition I find in Maine. In the morning I can be with a lobsterman and then later out shooting a Rockefeller.” He found families picking blueberries on the Kennebunk Plains and fishermen bringing their catch into harbors; children playing and teenagers working; classic cottages and seaside hotels that time has passed by. Mostly he found summer playing out in the lives of people who for a moment or two allowed a stranger with a camera to hold them still.
Brian Boru, an Irish themed pub in Portland. “It was Sunday morning,” recalls Schultz. “Raining. I was walking around, and about to give up finding something. I’d been in Portland two days and was frustrated, thinking maybe I should head north. I started walking back to my car and I heard music. It was an Irish Sunday brunch. See you can’t always plan what you’ll find.” Photo Credit: Richard Schultz“Buzzy” Dow (with a halibut) is a former fishing boat captain. Now he gives his expertise to customers at Portland’s Harbor Fish Market. Photo Credit: Richard SchultzOn the water in Wiscasset, Kalei Sprague takes orders for lobster rolls and ice cream at Sprague Lobster and Clam Bake, her family’s stand. “This just looks like summer to me,” says Richard. Photo Credit: Richard Schultz“I was driving to Pemaquid Lighthouse in Bristol,” says Schultz. “I know the best shot can happen along the way while I’m driving so I’ve gotten good just looking around while driving. I saw a car parked and this woman (Florence Elliott) who is blind was sitting in the backseat of the car. She moved there when she was 19, raised her family there and she’s still there. Never left. It’s classic Americana.” Photo Credit: Richard SchultzMORE SUMMER ON THE MAINE COASTMaine Coast in Summer | Photographs
Mel Allen
Now editor at large, Mel Allen's first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and led the staff as editor from 2006 to 2025. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long-form storytelling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel is author of Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All (Earth Sky + Water LLC, 2025).
Summer wouldn’t be summer if it didn’t include a trip to the Maine coast. Walking around lighthouses and old cemeteries are our favorite summer past times.
Thank you Richard – we are from Australia and are visiting the New England region in 7weeks for the Fall foliage season. We have a week scheduled on the beautiful South and Mid Maine coast so thanks for wetting our appetitite for all it offers.
Summer wouldn’t be summer if it didn’t include a trip to the Maine coast. Walking around lighthouses and old cemeteries are our favorite summer past times.
You have captured the spirit of freedom that children and adults feel on Peaks Island.
Thank you Richard – we are from Australia and are visiting the New England region in 7weeks for the Fall foliage season. We have a week scheduled on the beautiful South and Mid Maine coast so thanks for wetting our appetitite for all it offers.