In her element
Maine Media Workshops [now +College!] has a small gallery and bookstore in downtown Rockport, Maine. I've sailed to and from this harbor many times, and simply love the tiny town.
I stopped by yesterday to see their exhibit of prints by Paul Caponigro of running deer fame and his son John. Paul was actually due to stop by at some point in the day, but I missed my chance to meet an icon. Darn.
What I did get to do was chat with Tim who was manning the store. We had a wide-ranging conversation of the kind that probably takes place every day between guys of our, ahem, age. Turns out we’d both run camera stores for many years, both got out well before the entire industry disappeared, and both had our observations about how fundamentally photography has changed, practically overnight it seems.
Turns out my new friend is Tim Whelan who’s second act after closing his store in Ohio was to open a well-known photo bookstore just down the street from where we stood. Having seen the writing on the wall a second time, the closing of that endeavour made national headlines and placed a perfect period on the thread of our conversation.
Honestly, if picturesque Rockport, home of an internationally respected photo school and summer destination of the well-heeled and precious, can't support a photographic bookstore then what hope is there for any of us?
I stopped by yesterday to see their exhibit of prints by Paul Caponigro of running deer fame and his son John. Paul was actually due to stop by at some point in the day, but I missed my chance to meet an icon. Darn.
What I did get to do was chat with Tim who was manning the store. We had a wide-ranging conversation of the kind that probably takes place every day between guys of our, ahem, age. Turns out we’d both run camera stores for many years, both got out well before the entire industry disappeared, and both had our observations about how fundamentally photography has changed, practically overnight it seems.
Turns out my new friend is Tim Whelan who’s second act after closing his store in Ohio was to open a well-known photo bookstore just down the street from where we stood. Having seen the writing on the wall a second time, the closing of that endeavour made national headlines and placed a perfect period on the thread of our conversation.
Honestly, if picturesque Rockport, home of an internationally respected photo school and summer destination of the well-heeled and precious, can't support a photographic bookstore then what hope is there for any of us?
RSS Feed