Documentary Work

Fireside Pottery–Warren, Maine

Nancy Button, owner and potter of Fireside Pottery, bringing to life the bear from her childhood dreams, using the coil method with clay. Click on the photo to get a peek at the process behind the mugs, bowls, vases, pitchers and sculptures at Fireside Pottery in Warren, Maine.

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A Wee Bit Farm–Orland, Maine

:::Click the photo for a SLIDESHOW:::

Dan Hughes is the exuberant man behind A Wee Bit Farm. He provides stores up and down the coast of Maine (and into New Hampshire) with grass-fed beef and pork. Every two weeks he does the delivery drive that takes him two days. But Dan does a lot more than raising cattle and delivering meat.

Besides being a storyteller with a deep sense of Irish pride, he is a gift giver. Farming is his vehicle for sharing and expressing care to individuals and the larger community. He currently has three Highland cattle living on his own property. These cows are his friends, the ones he brings for walks, the cows who accompany him to fairs and who will not be used for meat.

The cattle that are raised for beef are a few towns over from Dan’s home in Orland. I recently took a Sunday to go up to the farm and photograph Dan’s operation. We drove to Hamden where some of his herd is living on the grass and hay at a halfway house for men fresh from prison or rehab. The transitory nature of the halfway house isn’t a good fit for a full-blown farm operation with gardens, milking cows and structured chores. So the self-sufficiency of the hardy Highlands is a perfect fit. The men make sure the cattle have enough hay, water and a few mineral-rich salt licks. And they pass the duties on to other men as the revolving door continually changes the landscape of the halfway house community. When Dan goes to check on the cattle, he brings the men a cooler full of meat, ready to eat.

Dan’s pigs are kept in one of the numbered territories of Maine. The families that keep the pigs for him have been pig farmers for a long time. In the past they had been making nearly no money from their farming because the slaughterhouse absorbed much of the profits. Someone introduced these farmers to Dan and now they house Dan’s pigs, raising them the way that Dan demands and getting an equal share of the profits. Dan makes it worthwhile for them. They are now able to survive as pig farmers.

Dan was a policemen in South Boston most of his life. He moved to Orland seven years ago and learned much of what he knows about farming from his friend, Harold, born and raised in Maine. Dan brought me to meet Harold. He greeted us in silence; standing in his doorway waiting for us to notice him as Dan and I cooed over his chicken coop. It’s hard to be welcomed into a real Maine scene of deeply set roots and rugged self-reliance. But through his sense of honest respect, an excited willingness to learn and an unending appreciation of the ingenuity of Maine creativity (which isn’t always pretty, but it works), Dan is embraced by Harold and others who want to keep teaching him what they know about farming and real communities.

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White Orchard Farm–Frankfort, Maine

Cecil Linscott and Ann Wilson milk 14 Jersey cows at their farm in Franfort, Maine. They deliver their raw milk and yogurt to co-ops and markets in Rockland, Belfast, Bangor and around Frankfort. Click the photo for a slideshow providing a glimpse of their operation.

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Black Crow Bakery–Litchfield, Maine

Mark Mickalide owns Black Crow Bakery in Litchfield, ME and bakes bread 5 days a week in a bakery wedged between his house and the barn. He’s been creating bread in this location for 20 years. He also makes the bread for communion at The Greek Orthodox Church  of the Holy Trinity in Lewiston, ME. (Click the photo to see slideshow)

 

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Heiwa Tofu–Camden, Maine

Heiwa Tofu in Camden, Maine is owned and operated by Jeff and Maho. Visit their website for more information on their business and click the photo above to experience the morning I spent in their mini-factory.

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Rock City Coffee–Rockland, Maine

Patrick Reilley owns and runs Rock City Coffee with his partner Susanne Ward. Here Patrick is releasing the beans after roasting. This was a French Roast batch.

This photo was taken in March 2010. Patrick passed away on May 16th, 2010 after a decade long battle with cancer.

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The Mah Jongg Women of Midcoast Maine

September 12, 2009–Barbie Z.’s House–15 ladies–3 Mah Jongg Sets

This slideshow retells the first annual Mah Jongg Tournament of the Midcoast Maine league. The group is comprised of women ranging in age from twenty four to girls in their late eighties. They usually don’t keep score, but for the tournament they did and prizes were won by all.

(click photo for slideshow)

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Mysterious Joe Miller–Portland, Maine

(click photo for slideshow)

A day in the life of Joe Miller, also known as Mysti which is short for Mysterious Adelina Delarosa.

Joe Miller lives on the streets of Portland, Maine. He has been without housing since 2007, and restricted to a wheelchair since 2002. He is transgender: though born a male he feels more like a woman. When time and energy allow he dresses in women’s clothing. Somedays he’s a combination of a long-haired lady and a rough bearded man all in one wheelchair-bound body.

Joe was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his youth, and still struggles with it today. Medical care is one of his top priorities with weekly chiropractic appointments and regular doctor’s visits, but he expresses that it is more difficult for him to seek psychiatric care.

In the meantime, he is able to ignore the voices he hears in his head that call his name in a gruff whisper, and passes the time wheeling from place to place in Portland, crocheting bikinis, drinking coffee, drawing portraits and trying to make all his doctor’s appointments.

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Computer At Sea–Portland, Maine

Galen Richmond of Portland, Maine finds unusual sounds in the wires of old electronics. His one man band (with occasional guests) is called Computer at Sea.

(click the photo for a slideshow. Audio credit: Isaac Kestenbaum)