THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ A FEW OF THE STORIES BEHIND THE PICTURES. THE SUMMER OF 2013 BRINGS A NEW BLOG. YOU WILL FIND SELECTIONS FROM SOME OF THE MOST RECENT WORK HERE, MIXED WITH THE OCCASIONAL FOCUS ON PREVIOUS PROJECTS. WELCOME!
Sometimes it can be hard to believe in princesses and pumpkin carriages. You want to reach for your magic wand and check the house for glass slippers, but real life tends to claim your attention. This year was especially daunting for Camden Hills, as well as many other high schools in the area, thanks to an early winter storm which cancelled school...
It takes much more than talent to bring midcoast dancers together for an original performance on an island in the Penobscot Bay. Will the cell phones work? (not for most)- Will the ferry go? (not if it had to make an emergency trip the night before)-Did anyone remember to put the blackboard out to alert everyone on the island that the show is tonig...
How many healthcare photographers have a portfolio that also includes professional musicians, prisoners, weddings, high school drama festivals and even a goat on a horse? Then again, how many hospitals have a photographer with extensive previous experience as a psychiatric nurse practitioner? I've always been interested in art and healing, and my f...
As the Oceanside High School cast gathered for warm-ups before a performance at the Class A Maine State Drama Festival, their director passed a question around the room. "What line speaks to you today?" Each actor responded with a line from the play, using expression and feeling. The energy in the room grew. I wasted no time in stealing her idea (t...
I once photographed 9 one-act plays in a single day, thanks to a previous snow day cancellation. The first performers were on stage by 9 am, and the awards were presented after midnight. Three different audiences were involved and I wouldn't want to guess how much pizza was consumed, but the show went on. Last weekend 79 Maine high schools sent dra...
When Chantel Renee Wright entered the green room at the Rockport Opera House, her voice was noticeably fatigued and raspy. That didn't stop the musician/professor/pentecostal preacher from gaining the instant attention of the 26 young singers traveling with the Songs of Solomon Gospel Choir, who immediately gathered and began their vocal warm-ups....
The story behind these photographs takes place inside the Maine State Prison, but it's not about prison life or criminal justice. The inmates are involved in a woodworking class taught by a master craftsman, but the story is not about technique or artistic vision. You might say that this post is about a place in which there are no stories- a time f...
I think someone in Shrek cast a spell on me. I'm always amazed at the Camden Hills musicals, but I tend to lean toward the shows like Les Mis, Phantom, West Side Story- with the songs that make you cry. Well, at least the comedies are often brightly lit and easier to photograph, so I thought this year would be a couple of quick trips to the Strom a...
It began innocently enough in 2000, when the Strom Auditorium was brand new and the Camden Hills were alive with The Sound of Music. My son was cast among the 5 young Von Trapps who were not yet in high school. Things were pretty chaotic, and by that, I mean that there were literally no chairs installed for the audience a few days before opening ni...
I am a seventh-generation Midcoast Mainer, on both sides of my family. My mother's family were the Cries, of Criehaven, Crie Hardware, etc in the Rockland/Thomaston area. My father's family had a house full of sea chests, sailors' gear and even a model ship built by my great-great grandfather, Captain Henry Atherton Starrett, who sailed cargo ships...