National Audubon at Hog Island - Eric

 

Eric

 

“...the care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.” ― Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays

Eric works as a land manager and steward for the National Audubon Society, and he is surely a favorite with all visiting the island due to his intimate knowledge of Hog Island and Muscongus Bay and willingness to share with all interested.  Unfortunately, he was not too excited about having his photograph taken.  I understand.  It's not a natural thing for most.  ...but he's integral to National Audubon's operations, so I had catch him somehow.  Here is my best representation of Eric presenting a geology lesson to the group on a nearby island in the bay.   ...not too bad a photo, huh? ...and maybe most appropriate considering Eric.  Thanks, Eric, for your stewardship of our shared natural heritage and for helping to make my time on Hog Island fantastic.

Olympus OM-2N 35mm SLR + Zuiko OM Auto-W 21mm f/3.5 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X black and white film

~Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com

National Audubon at Hog Island - David

 

~David

 

“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.” ~ Plato
 
David participated in the educator’s week session held by the National Audubon Society on Hog Island, and it seemed that each time I turned around he was there engaged and involved in conversation.  …and he was contagiously excited about sharing, learning, and teaching in general terms.  David, without question, is most eager and enthusiastic about math, science, and engineering. Yes, yes, yes astronomy! What struck me about him in particular, but really all participating in educator’s week, was how articulate he was expressing his thoughts and questions, and how he framed his words to make you excited and equally engaged.  It just makes sense that David teaches.  I also noticed that he naturally connects people to others with similar ideas and interests in attempt to make things happen. How cool! Anyway, I think David’s easy personality shows here.  It’s impossible not to like him, huh?  David, thank you for bringing positivity to the world and for helping others be better people.  Please know that I am inspired from our time together.  Much respect.
 
Hasselblad 500C medium format SLR + Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 black and white film
 
~Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com/

National Audubon at Hog Island – Meghan

 

Meghan

 

"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks."  - John Muir

It was educator’s week, which is a learning session on Hog Island where teachers come for inspiration and to learn and share practical approaches for developing environmental education curriculum.    Audubon staff on this day was holding a massive afternoon group workshop along the shoreline at low-tide.   …which meant wet and muddy feet in the flats.  Megan, a school teacher by vocation, was enthusiastically engaged in the species identification happening along the water’s edge, and I noted her fantastic attire that placed her perfectly for a game of hoops or a morning digging clams.  Fortunately, she was willing to make a photograph with me within a salt marsh adjacent.  She’s a rockstar, huh?  Thanks, Meghan!

Hasselblad 500C medium format SLR + Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 black and white film

~Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com/

 

National Audubon at Hog Island - Outside Lies Magic

 
 

“GET OUT NOW. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people…. Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around. Do not jog. Do not run…. Instead pay attention to everything that abuts the rural road, the city street, the suburban boulevard. Walk. Stroll. Saunter. Ride a bike, and coast along a lot. Explore…. Abandon, even momentarily, the sleek modern technology that consumes so much time and money now…. Go outside and walk a bit, long enough to forget programming, long enough to take in and record new surroundings…. Flex the mind, a little at first, then a lot. Savor something special. Enjoy the best-kept secret around—the ordinary, everyday landscape that rewards any explorer, that touches any explorer with magic…all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it. take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic.”
—John Stilgoe, Outside Lies Magic

Linhof Technika large format field camera + Schneider-Kreuznach 150mm f/5.6 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 320 black and white film

Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com

 

National Audubon Society at Hog Island – Martin and Kathleen

 

~ Kathleen & Martin

 

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

Kathleen and Martin participated in the raptor focused session held by the National Audubon Society on Hog Island.  They had both been to the island before, but the last time the weather was not in their favor.  Given their return, it still left a lasting impression.  They both had been pulled in via the osprey, but it was clear from our conversations that their interest had spring boarded into natural history, ecology, and ornithology.
 
Martin and Kathleen came to “Audubon Camp” this year as part of their honeymoon.  Yes, they marked this special life moment by being together in this uniquely Maine place focused on nature-based learning.  One has to admire their interest and desire to be connected to the natural world.  

Congratulation, Martin and Kathleen!  Thank you for your example and for making this photograph with me.  Warm wishes you way.

Linhof Technika large format field camera + Schneider-Kreuznach 150mm f/5.6 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 320 black and white film

Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com

 

National Audubon Society at Hog Island - Debbie

 

-Debbie

 

“There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.” - Jim Henson, Favorite Songs from Jim Henson's Muppets

I’d like to introduce you to Debbie.  She was a participant this summer in a raptor focused education session at the National Audubon’s Hog Island in Breman, Maine.  Debbie and all of the participants in the raptor program opened my eyes to lots, including the online world surrounding a pair of nesting osprey on the edge of the camp.  You see, there is a webcam focused on these osprey, and people across the country watch nature’s drama unfold in real time for this pair and their young living in Muscongus Bay.  I was completely unaware of this nature based cam culture and how enthusiastic and involved people can be in what seemed to me such abstract distance.  Who knew?  While program emphasis on Hog Island was on osprey, participants, like Debbie, learned much more about birds of prey and their critical role in the mid-coast environment.  ..and what was really fascinating from my outsider view, was watching how Audubon staff used the osprey as a pivot to open a larger natural world for course participants.

Debbie and I talked lots during down moments of camp programming and quickly became great friends.  She came knowing lots about osprey and was super happy to have opportunity to relax in Maine and re-center.  I really enjoyed learning about her river and mountains in Georgia, and chatting about life, books and music (She’s a massive David Gray fan!).  While I’ve only known Debbie for a short time, she feels like a friend I’ve had forever. I think she looks pretty chill in this photograph we made.  It’s one of my favorites for sure.  Thanks, Deb!

Hasselblad 500C medium format SLR + Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 black and white film

~Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com
  

National Audubon Society at Hog Island – Cleo, Kristi, and Julia

 

-Cleo (left), Kristi (right), and Julia (middle)

 

"It's around the table and in the preparation of food that we learn about ourselves and about the world." -Alice Waters

This is Chef Cleo and sous support Kristi, and Julia.  They are, without question and for obvious reason, the most loved on Hog Island.   ...and let me say that Cleo and her crew make sure that nobody goes hungry.  Prior to each meal, time is taken to describe what was is being served, how it was prepared, and when local sources were used (something that is stressed from the kitchen).  Cleo provides options for alternative diets, and again, goes out of her way to ensure that all leave content.  This may seem like a small thing, but it's not.  Though not voiced direct to me, it's clear that the food experience at Hog Island is thought out to make sure that all are in the best place to connect with nature, to learn about Maine island ecology, and about their place in the world.  Eliminating any food concern is clearly weighed integral by Cleo, Julia, and Kristi for larger Audubon programmatic success. Very neat.

Thank you, Cleo, Kristi, and Julia, for your kindness, for taking care of me during my time on-island, and for helping to provide for my exceptional experience with National Audubon.   We made a nice photograph, huh?  I love it!  Much appreciation.

Linhof Technika large format field camera + Schneider-Kreuznach 150mm f/5.6 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 320 black and white film

Dan Grenier
2017 Artist in Residence
National Audubon Society, Hog Island
http://daniel-grenier.com/

 

National Audubon Society at Hog Island – The Sherrie and Trudy Show

 

~Sherrie and Trudy

 

“Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.”
― Gary Snyder

A quick note to say hello and share some news and a photograph…  I’ve been selected this year as an artist in residence with the National Audubon Society at Hog Island. How cool, huh?  To this end, it’s my intent over the next several months to share with you some of my photography from my project.  It’s a continuation, in many ways, of my most recent stuff – creating environmental portraits documenting the individual and their connection to unique natural surroundings in Maine. 

As many of you might guess, I’m using black and white film and large and medium format cameras to create these photographs.  It’s a purposeful choice tied to the dynamics involved with using these larger formats that near-forces the photographer to contemplate and concentrate a bit more on each individual image.  Yes, this will prove more labor intensive and time consuming for me than other options, but it is my hope that this helps make a more intimate visual experience. …and thus for this photographic process to equate to an expression and communication of my own personal experience; a means to further hone my own way of seeing and describing the world around me by embracing process.  While you’ll get to see some digital content via negative scans, my true end product will be a portfolio of fine silver gelatin enlarged prints made in a traditional wet darkroom using the negatives, an enlarger, light sensitive silver coated paper, and chemicals.  Timeless. 

Okay, I also want to introduce you to Sherrie and Trudy.  They are both instructors at National Audubon’s Education Camp on Hog Island, Bremen, Maine.  You can tell from their picture that they are both cards. …but you know, aces.  I’ve had time to follow them both around and observe their field instruction, and it’s something to watch.  In fact, students referred to them as “the Sherrie and Trudy Show”.  Nothing short of entertaining…  …but subtly tied to their package of fun is relevant information on topic, example, a spirit of inquisitiveness, openness, and safe space to ask and learn.  Awesome in the truest sense.  Oh yes, welcome to the show!  Thank you, Trudy and Sherrie.  Big smiles.

Hasselblad 500C medium format SLR + Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 lens + Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 black and white film

Dan Grenier

2017 Artist in Residence

National Audubon Society, Hog Island

http://daniel-grenier.com/