CONCEPT/SUBJECT
One of my favorite parts about the Seacoast of New Hampshire and Maine is the many unique and beautiful New England towns that make up the area. From quaint downtown streets lined with historic buildings, to sleepy beach towns that are quiet in the winter, and come alive in the summer, each town has a distinct and unique personality. One moment, I may be driving through rural farmlands of New Hampshire, and the next, I could arrive at a breathtaking view along Maine’s rocky coast. My goal with this project is to capture the diversity of 18 Seacoast towns through one image each. Living in this area my entire life, I am familiar with these towns—what they look and feel like, and what makes them each special and worthy of a visit. Through this project, my goal is to observe each town, and capture the essence, beauty, and uniqueness of each town through only one image.
TECHNICAL APPROACH (INPUT)
In this project, I plan to use my camera and focus on point of view—each town taken through the lens of a local from the human perspective, as many people would typically view the towns. To keep a consistency throughout this body of work, I will take all photos during the day so the color temperature is similar throughout each image. Because these photos will be taken outside during the daytime, I will most often be using a low ISO, and medium shutter speeds and aperture.
TECHNICAL APPROACH AND SPECS (OUTPUT)
All images of this project will be processed with color. My thinking is that there will be a variety of warm and cool images in this body of work by capturing natural elements like the coolness that comes with ocean scenes, and the warmth that comes with a sunny beach scene, as well as with a brick-lined downtown street, for example. While editing this body of work, I plan to take each image’s unique look and feel into consideration, while editing with a consistent style to maintain cohesiveness in this body of work. I don’t plan to print these images, but intend to keep them on my website (www.seacoastlately.com) where they will each live on a different page. The scale of each image will be the same on every page to maintain a consistent look and feel across all pages of the website.
Maggie
I visited your blog to get an idea of your vision. Your photos are great and I’m most drawn to the photos that have an intimacy that make me want to experience the place/space. I’m definitely going to check out Caffe Kilim and Market next time I’m in Portsmouth.
In your final project, I’m wondering how you are going to narrow down to choose one image to represent each town. Will it be an iconic image of that town or some hidden beauty? I think this is going to be the most difficult challenge due to the vast choices you will have.
I appreciated your POV and Color 2 photos, this series seems like a departure and I’m really looking forward to seeing what you choose to photograph and how you will photograph the towns.
BTW, just signed up for your newsletter and I will be back to visit your blog before heading North again!
Hi Maggie
I think this is a wonderful project. I love the notion of “capturing” a town with one image. I imagine the choice of which image is going to be your biggest hurdle. You might want to narrow it further like dawn in small towns or dusk or lunchtime. Another thing you could do is show several groupings. First round, second round etc… I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Maybe the choosing is something that you won’t be challenged with at all. :).
Leslie
Afternoon Maggie,
I’ve appreciated your feedback throughout the course.
I like the idea of capturing a town with one photo. I thing most towns have their own Empire State building.
My wife and I usually go to a show or two a year @ Jonathan’s in Ogunquit. For us the beach in Ogunquit captures the town. Looking forward to other photos of the area.
I’ve also bookmarked your web newsletter for summer trips north.
Bill
Hi Maggie,
As Bill and Lesley, i like so much the idea to photography differents citties just with one image, but i’m wondering as MaryAlice..how could you get it? i was thinking and maybe you could add the typical drink/food for that city to the photo!