News

The Ignition -- Jake Freedman, Graduate Student, University of Buffalo

“I was in t.v. club in high school; we broadcast our shows to all of Swampscott, Mass, but being in t.v. club wasn’t the most popular thing; that was football. When I found out about Maine Media Workshops I instantly wanted to come here.

I came my junior year, which was a great time to come; it solidified my decision to study film in college. When I arrived here, I immediately felt appreciated for who I am and it changed my life, very much for the better. The people I met were like me, accepted me unconditionally and were really good at what they do. I found out that it is easy to make friends; everyone here got along so great. It’s a safe environment and there is this feeling of energy that I have never experienced before. The equipment here is great too.

I went to Quinnipiac University and became Quinnipiac Film Society’s Vice President. I worked on numerous productions as a director, editor, producer and grip. I was the technical director, cameraman and did audio for Q30’s Morning Talk Show. I also interned for Sony Music and for The Today Show. This fall I’ll be in grad school working on a higher education degree in Student Affairs and continuing with my love for media.

My life’s motto is ‘Be yourself’. Being yourself is something that society does not tell us to do, but everyone has a story to tell and something to offer! Being a filmmaker is being able to see things in a different way, to be able to tell your story and other people’s stories.”

 

 

 

Maine Media's Tripod Society Photographs with Jamie & Phyllis Wyeth

by Julie Cawley

June 15 several members of Maine Media Workshops + College’s “Tripod Society” made a special “Photography Field Trip” to Jamie Wyeth’s private home on Southern Island. After a morning of spectacular photography, Jamie’s personal tour and history of the Tenant’s Harbor lighthouse, and a gourmet picnic lunch the group motored to Betsy and Andrew’s private island, Allen Island. In 1934, Tenant’s Harbor Light, on Southern Island, was one of a group of Maine lighthouses discontinued by the government and sold. Since 1978, the Wyeth family has spent much of their time on both Southern and Allen Islands.

As a group, we were totally surrounded by dozens of scenes from Andrew and Jamie’s paintings. The Tenant’s Harbor lighthouse has appeared in several Wyeth paintings, including “Fog Bell” and “Signal Flags” by Andrew Wyeth. Other lighthouse images by Jamie Wyeth are “Iris At Sea”, “Lighthouse Dandelions”, “The Gaggle” and “Southern Island Sunset”.

As Southern Island and Allen Island were perfect inspirations for so many Wyeth paintings, the islands inspired our Tripod group with fabulous memories and photographs of a truly spectacular day on Maine’s beautiful coast. Thank you to Jamie and Phyllis Wyeth for being such gracious hosts! And, thanks to Peter Ralston and Phil Lewis for motoring us to the islands on Peter’s “RAVEN” and Phil’s “Pipe Dreams”. Also, thanks to Amy and David Morey for sharing some interesting history of Allen Island with us.

Members of the Tripod Society make an annual contribution to MMW+C to provide critical financial aid, support state-of-the-art technology and keep programs at the forefront of creativity. YOUR MEMBERSHIP IS MOST WELCOME! As a special “thank-you”, members are invited to special outings/events/lectures/field trips featuring noted artists, filmmakers, and photographers. For more information about joining the Tripod Society of MMW+C, please contact Meg Weston, President of MMW+C at president@mainemedia.edu

 

Joyce Tenneson’s Trees and the Alchemy of Light Opens at Dowling Walsh Gallery Friday, July 6

Internationally renowned photographer, Joyce Tenneson, will present her new work at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine July 6-29, 2012. The opening reception takes place Friday, July 6th, 2012, from 5–8pm. The Dowling Walsh Gallery is located at 357 Main Street in Rockland, Maine.

Trees and the Alchemy of Light is an enchanting blend of the ancient craft of gold leaf combined with film from the high-tech present. Joyce’s mixed media exhibition is certain to inspire you to see the natural world in new ways.

July 15-21 Joyce is also teaching a new Maine Media workshop called Photographing from the Heart. Break out of your old patterns and enter into your deeper creativity as you create new work and share former work with Joyce.

The author of thirteen books, Joyce Tenneson continues to make an impact on the world with her photographic storytelling. She has received numerous awards, including the Lucie Award's Fine Art Photographer of the Year 2005. A recent American poll by American Photo Magazine voted Joyce among the ten most influential women photographers in the history of photography and her work frequents the covers of magazines such as: Time, Life, Newsweek, Premiere, Esquire and The New York Times Magazine.

Win one of Joyce's master works! Enter the Faculty Print Raffle for just $5, support Maine Media's Scholarship fund and delight in the opportunity to own one of Joyce's signed, signature pieces. Click here for the full details.

 

Move Your Finger, Change World Climate Patterns -- Gary Braasch's New App Makes it Happen!

With just a sweep of your finger, watch glaciers melt, sea ice disappear, coasts erode, reservoirs dry up and world temperatures soar. Climate change expert and global documentarian, Gary Braasch, working with Red Hill Studios, has created a new visualization of climate change based on his documentary project, World View of Global Warming. This visualization, an iPhone/iPad App, is titled,” Painting With Time: Climate Change."

Gary Braasch, a Nikon legend and recipient of the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, has been an assignment photographer for LIFE Magazine, Smithsonian, Audubon, Discover and Natural History Magazine since 1985. He has been a professional photographer and writer since 1975 and holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Recent assignments have taken Gary from Antarctica to the Peruvian Amazon to under the Pacific Ocean. In 2007 Gary published his masterwork on climate change, Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World, which is now an ebook, updated in 2009.

Gary worked with Lynne Cherry to co-publish and produce the children’s book on climate change, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate. This is one of the most honored and recommended science books for children and has won 15 awards. Click to see what students said to Gary and Lynne about climate change.

Explore new ways to see and respond to our rapidly changing environment beginning June 24 in Gary’s Maine Media Workshop, Photography for the Environmentalist!

 

Win a Work of Art from Tillman Crane, Brenton Hamilton, Constantine Manos and/or Joyce Tenneson!

Faculty RaffleFrom June through October 2012 at the Maine Media Gallery and at the Ernst Haas Administration Building, raffle tickets are on sale for only $5 per ticket or 12 tickets for $50. You may purchase raffle tickets for work from Tillman Crane, Brenton Hamilton, Constantine Manos, and/or Joyce Tenneson. Raffle tickets are specific to the artist, so be sure to choose the ticket(s) for the image(s) you desire to win.

At the end of the Workshops’ season, an open-to-the-public drawing will be held to draw one winning ticket for each of the four images. All four winners will be notified by phone and/or email after the drawing with winners also announced on our website’s News page and on our Facebook and Twitter sites.

If you’ve already been to Maine Media this year, or cannot come this year, you still have the chance to win! Go to Maine Media's Make A Payment page and purchase your raffle ticket(s) online! Please enter the name of the artist for whom you would like a raffle ticket in the "Comments" box. Your information will be entered on the ticket(s); one-half of the ticket will go into the raffle, the other half will be mailed to you.

All proceeds from the raffle go to support the Maine Media Workshops’ Scholarship Fund!

 

Free Events that You Won’t Want to Miss

Every Monday and Tuesday evening through September, Maine Media Workshops’ photography, film, multimedia, destinations and/or book arts faculty will share their awe-inspiring work, stories, creativity and success tips. These evening events, the Maine Media Masters’ Series, begin at 7:30pm in Rockport Village’s Opera House located at 6 Central Street in Rockport, Maine. 

Monday, June 4, Peter Turnley kicks off the season. Peter, an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed photographer, will share his time-honored techniques for: overcoming timidity and anxiety around photographing people, finding your inner voice, developing a theme-based photo story, revealing the magic and poetry in the streets of daily life, and more! Come to see decades of Peter’s work from Rio Brazil, Barcelona, Paris, New York City, Istanbul, Mumbai and Venice – to name a few of his favorite destinations for photography and story telling.  This evening with Peter, a master photojournalist who documents the human condition, promises to be both enchanting and enlightening.

Tuesday, June 5, Michael Wilson reveals the process he uses in photographing people. Through a discussion of how concrete elements like light and the environment impact a photo to emotional aspects of what is hoped for, feared and expected, you will gain insight that is sure to enhance each photo you shoot. Michael’s work includes portraits from many music legends including Lyle Lovett, b.b. King, Randy Newman, Emmylou Harris; 22 years of one-person and group exhibitions; and numerous publications including four books. Preserve the faces of those whom you love in the upmost manner – come to learn from Master Portraiture Maker, Michael Wilson.

For more information about the Maine Media Masters’ Series, go to www.mainemedia.edu and click on “News” in the upper right corner of the screen, or contact Maine Media at info@mainemedia.edu or 207-236-8581.

Passion is Key – Rookies Soar in 4-Week Film School

Bates, a premier college in the USA, offers students a “Short Term” class during their spring semester. This is the story of seven Bates students who chose to spend their Short Term in Maine Media Workshop’s 4-Week Film School.

“We see video, film and media as vocabulary that students need to have. These kids have so many different interests; Maine Media is great for them because of its comprehensive and total immersion into filmmaking,” commented Michael Reidy, Chair of Bates’ Theatre and Dance department.

Joshua Ajamu, Bates student, reflects, “My experience at Maine Media Workshop’s 4-week Film School was exceptional. I learned so much in the short span of one month.

Arriving at the Maine Media Workshops with a small background in documentary and narrative filmmaking, I felt great that my skills would be developed and move my filmmaking career to the next level. At Maine Media I was able to work with wonderful individuals who had the same goal as I did. 

Maine Media showed me how life as a documentary filmmaker can be. It confirmed to me that filmmaking is what I really want to pursue. The skills I have acquired from my four weeks at the Workshops will definitely help me move forward in establishing a strong career as a filmmaker.”

Josh’s final project for the 4-Week Film School, “Passion for Work,” reveals the full story! Click on the image to the right, enjoy the film and then seriously consider developing your passion at Maine Media Workshops!

 

 

 

Steve Laxton Wins the 2012 Arnold Newman Prize

Australian born, New York City resident, Steve Laxton, is the winner of the 2012 Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture. His series, Circo El Salvador, echoes Arnold Newman’s legendary portraiture. As the winner, Steve receives a $15,000 prize funded by The Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation with support from PDN, ASMP and Maine Media Workshops.

Laxton was also awarded the Picture of the Year International Feature Story for Circo El Salvador, a project chronicling the life of small, nomadic family circuses, which Laxton describes as, “gypsy street theatre, come burlesque cabaret of days gone by.”

These four to six-member circuses perform in poor, remote areas without cultural or entertainment venues, televisions, or cars, making the circus one of the few cultural events that locals experience – with definite risk. Steve explains, “El Salvador has the world’s highest homicide rate, major gang violence, a continuing drug war and a fear mentality remaining from the Civil War. Most evenings the perimeter of the circus tent is vigilantly guarded by military and police armed with AK47's to ensure those who attend feel safe away from their home at dark.”

Steve’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Elle, Philadelphia Magazine, American Lawyer and 125 Magazine. This September, Circo El Salvador will be featured in a major, solo exhibit at Marte, El Salvador’s National Museum of Art and then will tour nationally.

Click to view images from Steve Laxton's Circo El Salvador and for information about The Arnold Newman Scholarship at Maine Media Workshops + College.

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