Maine

Everyday Maine | Bonus Photos

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| Print icon

Flinging Fish, 2011.  Tim Greenway is a commercial, editorial and fine art photographer as well as an assistant adjunct professor at the University of New England in Biddeford teaching digital photography. For a story on ground fishing regulations, he documented the Portland Fish Exchange including capturing this candid portrait of fisherman Kurt Durand flinging fish into a barrel on board the Free Bird.

Credit: Tim Greenway

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

Nate, 2016.  Editorial photographer Michael D Wilson captured his friend Nate Conroy smelling a flower in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in 2016. They had first hiked over this bridge when Michael noticed that the perspective from below was really nice.  He asked Nate to wait there for a minute while he checked to see if the angle would work. When Michael turned back to see if the shot was there or not, Nate was more or less in this position.  Michael snapped a few frames and they hiked on.  The photo is part of a personal story Michael worked on for a few months before the land was officially designated a national monument.  The original intention was to document Nate’s immersion and rediscovery of his home state of Maine through this landscape.   The two friends traveled together for a couple of days trading stories and taking pictures. In the end, the larger story about this important landscape is still one of his favorite projects to date.

Credit: Michael D. Wilson
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
Credit: Michael D. Wilson

Doug Wilson in his Black Smith Shop,  2017. Doug was photographed by Michael D Wilson as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Maine Craft Association.  The project, Artists in Their Studio, takes a deeper look into the process and work of artists across Maine. I had taken several images from lower angles of this moment but felt like it was missing that explosive feel. Standing on a work bench gave me exactly what I was looking for. I briefly flipped back through the images I had shot and knew right away this is what I wanted. When I zoomed in to check focus I noticed sparks hitting Doug’s beard. I showed him the picture and he laughed and said “that doesn’t normally happen, but I love it!”

Credit: Michael D. Wilson
Also 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
Credit: Michael D. Wilson

Compassion March, March 22, 2014.  Documentary photographer Nick Gervin captured this photograph of young band members along the route on Center Street in Portland, Maine. The supporters made their way though the city and ended with a peaceful rally with hundreds of compassionate people at Monument Square. Nick has been making candid photographs of everyday life in Portland, Maine for over seven years. He documents the uninhibited energy of crowds getting out of bars and concerts, police at work, fireman drenching buildings engulfed in flames, almost as if he is a visual historian with a camera. He photographs people candidly, quietly moving through the streets with quick reflexes, a necessary skill for capturing spontaneous, intriguing moments of reality between people. Nick’s ability to organize manmade light, inanimate objects, colorful people, and buildings into work that dances between photo journalism and narrative, fine art images is impressive. The work is sensitive, and because of his own personal struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse (he has been clean for nine years), it is also honest. He is not exploiting, judging or taking advantage of the most volatile souls in his images – he views people with compassion, and wants us to pay attention to the overlooked and ignored members of our communities. (not sure about this last line jenn?)

Credit: Nick Gervin
Documentary 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
Credit: Nick Gervin

Union Fair, 2002.  Dee Peppe is the founder and director of Coastal Maine Photo Tours, which combines travel adventure with photographic education while exploring the beauty of Maine. The two photos shown here are part of a larger body of work, Foreign and Familiar, exploring how humans interact with their environment. Turning her camera to everyday life at one of Maine’s traditional agricultural fairs, she captured this beautiful moment on the midway.

Credit: Dee Peppe
This 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/
Credit: Dee Peppe

Old Orchard Beach, 2002.  Dee Peppe’s photo displays how the photographer’s intuitive response finds form and structure in a familiar American human experience. More photos from her ongoing series, Foreign and Familiar, may be found on her website.

Credit: Dee Peppe
Old Orchard Beach, 2002.  coastalmainephototours.com/dees-work/
Credit: Dee Peppe

Flinging Fish, 2011.  Tim Greenway is a commercial, editorial and fine art photographer as well as an assistant adjunct professor at the University of New England in Biddeford teaching digital photography. For a story on ground fishing regulations, he documented the Portland Fish Exchange including capturing this candid portrait of fisherman Kurt Durand flinging fish into a barrel on board the Free Bird.

Credit: Tim Greenway
A 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
Credit: Tim Greenway

Polar Bear Dip and Dash, 2011. Over the past 23 years as a professional photographer, Tim Greenway has photographed numerous plunges into lakes, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean in both the Midwest and Maine for various publications. This New Year’s Eve photograph captures the exhilaration of the frigid event as Shelly Thorp of Harrison, Maine, left, and Anita Day of North Fryeburg, Maine run from the waters of Casco Bay during the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s Polar Bear Dip and Dash along the East End Beach in Portland. It was their first time participating in this type of event completing one of the items on their bucket list. 

Credit: Tim Greenway
Also 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
Credit: Tim Greenway

Lindsey Bourassa, 2015. Dance photographer Arthur Fink captured this moving portrait of Portland flamenco dance artist Lindsey Bourassa at her performance of El Lobo y La Paloma (The Wolf and The Dove) at South Portland High School in honor of her father.  ” 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. Amidst pain or anguish … tempered with rhythm and support, and bolstered with faith, new life emerges. It’s physical, sometimes sensual, often spiritual. Too often this process is ignored, as image makers look only at the final result—the dance.”

Credit: Arthur Fink
Portland-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
Credit: Arthur Fink

Maxwell’s Farm, Pick Your Own Strawberries, July 2005. Cape Elizabeth.  This photograph is from a Portland Press Herald story about photographer Susan Porter’s project at the farm: “The sight of a tractor driving into the mist at Maxwell Farm in Cape Elizabeth” was the inspiration for a 10-month documentary project undertaken by the Peaks Island photographer. “I used to shop at the market all the time.  The fields behind are just so incredibly beautiful.”After her visit on that misty day, it took a little while for Porter to muster up the courage to ask the Maxwells for permission to photograph their farm. However, the family was more than willing to let her roam the fields. “The life they live is a beautiful life,” she said. “It was really a privilege.” Porter followed the 2005 growing season from the snow-covered fields in March to the straw-covered fields in December. She amassed more than 2,500 negatives that yielded a 35-photograph project entitled “A Season Under the Sun.”

Credit: Susan Porter
Originally 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
Credit: Susan Porter

“Tourists in Tommy’s Park.” 2018.  Bill Shumaker is a retired attorney and avid amateur photographer. He is also the past president of the Portland Photography Club which is one of the largest photo groups in the country. Bruce Brown who was the creative force behind both exhibits shared these observations.  “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.

Credit: Bill Shumaker
This 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
Credit: Bill Shumaker

Heather Marcus

Heather Marcus is the senior photo editor for Yankee. She works closely with the art director and contributing photographers to tell our stories about people and place in a compelling way. Living and growing up in New England, she continues to be inspired by the communities, the landscape, and the wonderful visual opportunities the region affords.

More by Heather Marcus

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