AP, 2024, Archival Pigment Print, 26 x 39 inches

January 13, 2024… With a camera in a plastic bag slung over my aching shoulder, boots still sodden after being emptied of sea water many times through the day, I trudged as far as I dared to the edge of the rocks at Two Lights State Park. Tired and feeling defeated by a second major winter storm that lashed our coast within a week, I wasn’t really interested in making any photographs. I spent the day near the end of Two Lights Road, knee deep in frigid sea water trying to clear a storm drain of debris with a snow shovel. Along with my neighbors, we waded and cleared as the ocean streamed down the street and into our basements. Our hope was to give the vast quantity of sea water a place to go other than our homes. A futile effort. Later, as I stood at the edge of the raging sea, angry mountains of water, roaring into Kettle Cove… Heavenly light through the mist, like I’ve never seen washed over me along with a few other stormy sea spectators. I gasped, breathless for a moment until I remembered the camera weighing on my shoulder.

Deb Dawson was introduced to Maine 30 years ago while honing her photographic eye and craft at Maine Media Workshops + College before completing her BFA in Photography with a minor in Art History at the University of Southern Maine. Embarking on a series of adventures as an archaeological and museum photographer in Carthage, Tunisia, she later returned to explore Maine’s craggy coast building an off-grid homestead, working in graphic design, then earning her merchant mariner captain’s license. This time, living close to the land and sea solidified Dawson’s deep appreciation for the natural environment. To better tell the story of the changing landscape and coastal communities, Dawson developed her narrative voice at SALT Institute of Documentary Studies at MECA&D in 2018. These varied experiences now seem to coalesce into a poetic vision, conveying Dawson’s sense of awe at the beauty found while contemplatively observing our changing world.