A Sense of Place

IN 1973 IN ROCKPORT, MAINE, an entrepreneur named David H. Lyman founded what would become America’s first large-scale photo workshop. Offering summer seminars in this picturesque harbor village, Maine Photographic Workshops soon drew students from around the world, who came to learn from such luminaries as Ernst Haas and Mary Ellen Mark. Today the program is a nonprofit whose name, Maine Media Workshops, reflects its wide-ranging offerings: filmmaking, creative writing, graphic design, and more. But as shown by these images from a recent workshop— led by Eliot Dudik and attended by Yankee photo editor Heather Marcus—it’s still teaching people to see anew through the camera lens.

“I’ve struggled with landscapes, so photographing this Stonington shack—which drew my eye with its mix of colors and tones—meant I had to push out of my comfort zone. But it helped to remember the advice that our instructor, Eliot Dudik, gave us: Feel the space, let it speak to you, and you will find your shot.”

Heather Marcus, Peterborough, NH

ABOVE : “Our teacher challenged me to photograph people in my landscapes to create that ‘sense of place.’ These children, fully engaged in a Damariscotta tide pool, bring to mind the timelessness of summer play on the Maine shore.” — Leslie Hankey, Jasper, GA

OPPOSITE : “We stumbled on this scene in Lincolnville, close to sunset, after chasing down a stream of smoke in the distance. The family allowed us to watch and photograph the controlled burn of an old turkey barn on their property, which had also attracted one of their young sons as an onlooker.”

Julia Bennett, Los Angeles, CA

ABOVE : “On an outing along the coast, my fellow students walked the shoreline while I went back to the van to look for my lens cap. I heard a car coming, and I turned to take a few shots to experiment with motion. How could it be that I caught this rare Ford Edsel? Just one of Maine’s many surprises.” — Leslie Hankey

OPPOSITE : “This family from Connecticut was spread out on a quiet part of Popham Beach, and I took some photos of them fishing separately before asking if I could take their portrait. I love the idea of this father with his teenage children, each with their own unique expression and stance, poles askew, but connected to each other and to this vacation that’s become a tradition for them.” — Heather

Marcus

ABOVE : “I was struck by the isolation of this house— it was standing pretty much entirely on its own in a barren field, with forgotten items littered about. I find I’m often drawn to places of loneliness in my work, and this home fit perfectly.”

Walker Bankson, Wilmington, NC

OPPOSITE : “I was shooting with a 4x5 view camera, which let me capture images with a tremendous amount of detail. Using such a cumbersome and slow camera also forced me to slow down my process, fostering conversations with the people I was photographing—like this Stonington fisherman, Zachary—and allowing me to consider every part of the image I was creating.” — W.B.

To see more photographs from the “A Sense of Place” seminar, go to newengland.com/maine-media. For information on upcoming Maine Media Workshops classes, go to mainemedia.edu.