Meditation, 2025, Pigment print, 30x30 inches

Look deeply into every drop of water to find the universe within. This phrase seems to have settled into my psyche as I continue to walk coastal paths throughout the year. As I wander and wonder, I keep trying to look closer at natural forms to find something… An understanding of how the world survives, perhaps. Shapes and patterns in fluid realms seem to reveal common bonds between earth and sky. One day in January, after a sequence of warm then frigid days, I ventured onto a frozen pond. It was like stepping out of a space capsule into the stars. Looking, closer, more deeply into the ice was like an epiphany. For a few moments, I felt that the unifying theory of everything was within my grasp. Then, the realization that frostbite was taking over as I had been kneeling on the ice for nearly an hour, lost in thought, making these photographs. - D. D.

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 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 while 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 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.