True North: Cait Bourgault’s Wild Landscapes
New England photographer Cait Bourgault didn’t need to travel the world to find her muse—it was right there in her own backyard.
By Ian Aldrich|Apr 23 2026|
Near the top of the list of Bourgault’s favorite photography locations is the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Gorman Chairback Lodge and Cabins in Greenville, Maine. “It’s total wilderness,” she says. “There’s no cell service, so it’s easy to disconnect.” She captured this photo on Long Pond early one morning, after a predawn moose safari had come up empty. “You set out for one thing, and nature gives you something else,” she says.
Photo Credit: Cait BourgaultIn the fall of 2009, Cait Bourgault was just a few weeks into her freshman year at the University of Southern Maine in Portland when a teacher pulled her aside one day after class. With him was a collection of images she had made for his Intro to Photography course, and he was floored by how good they were.
“He asked me point-blank: ‘Why aren’t you pursuing photography?’” she remembers. “It stopped me dead in my tracks. I didn’t have an answer. But he was like, ‘You have it—this should be what you do with your life.’”
In a way, it had been. Bourgault grew up near Bangor, guided by a mother who passed down her own love for taking pictures. Home life, pets, friends—Bourgault frequently had a camera in hand to document anything and everything around her. “For me, a kid who was pretty shy, it was a way to connect with people and learn about the world,” she says.
Though Bourgault had developed a quiet confidence in her skills, that conversation with her teacher transformed what she believed was possible for herself. Not long after, she left the university and enrolled at Portland’s renowned Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Soon, she was a working photographer, shooting weddings and making images of the grand landscapes that have come to define her work.
At her core, Bourgault is a New England adventurer. An avid hiker and backcountry skier, she lives with her young daughter, Fiona, on a 100-acre property in the middle of Maine’s White Mountains region. Nearly two decades into her career, Bourgault has both remained close to home and made it the focus of her photography.
“I know I’m biased, but I don’t think there’s any other place like it,” says Bourgault, whose images have not only appeared in publications such as this one, but also led to collaborations with L.L. Bean and the Appalachian Mountain Club, among others. “You can be on the most beautiful rocky coastline, and then within a couple of hours be on top of some mountain with the most breathtaking views. A lot of the work I’ve done is showing just how proud I am of where I come from.”
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Photo Credit: Cait Bourgault
Learn more about Cait Bourgault here.
This feature was originally published as “True North” in the May/June 2026 issue of Yankee.
Weekends with Yankee host Amy Traverso heads to Norway, Maine, to meet up with photographer Cait Bourgault for the TV show’s 10th anniversary season, now airing on public television stations nationwide. To find out how to watch, go to weekendswithyankee.com.
