Women in Print; A Celebration of Works on Paper

A Collaboration with Grippy Tannins featuring a curated group of wines by women vintners

August 1 - September 27

Opening reception: 5 - 8 pm, Friday August 1

Artist Talks: Friday, 5 - 8 pm August 22 and September 19

Unlike other mediums, women were at the forefront of the advent of photography as makers. Because of this, they helped shape the development of the art form, and experimented with every aspect of the medium. One hundred and eighty- ish years later in Maine it’s still happening. MMPA is lucky to collaborate with quite a few contemporary innovators and experimenters; women photographers that we esteem. This exhibit runs the gamut from the traditional to the avant-Garde, and is executed with superior works in a range of contemporary and antique processes (many artists employ several all at once). The topics also have a breadth of variety; The self, the landscape, conservation, motherhood, companions (or in some cases dogs), aging, place, unconditional love, documentation, the psyche, trees, identity or cultural heritage (via food), feminism and beauty are all explored in this exhibit. Come, meditate on the medium and the great women photographers of Maine and New England. - Denise Froehlich, Director of MMPA

June Kim
Deb Dawson
Joyce Tenneson
Lisa Mossel
Jeanie Hutchins
Tara Sellios
Sal Taylor Kydd
Asia Kepka
Claire Seidl
Elizabeth Greenberg
Bernice Abbott
Caroline E. Savage
Sara Stites
Karen Olson
Linda Connor
Fay Godwin
Carol Eisenberg
Christine Higgins
D.M.Witman
Jeanne Wells

June Kim

My black and white photographs capture fleeting, quotidian moments—mundane scenes that pulse with quiet significance. Each image is a canvas, painted over with deliberate strokes to evoke new narratives or transport viewers into alternate dimensions. The interplay of stark monochrome and vibrant paint disrupts the familiar, inviting reinterpretation of the everyday. Animals frequently emerge in these works, their presence layered with symbolism: a dog embodies empathy, a bird soars as love, a lion radiates power, or a deer hints at otherworldly spirituality. These creatures bridge the tangible and the ethereal, guiding viewers through emotional and metaphysical landscapes. By blending photography’s raw realism with painting’s transformative alchemy, I aim to reveal the unseen stories woven into daily life, encouraging a deeper connection to the ordinary and the profound. My art is an invitation to pause, reflect, and reimagine the world’s hidden depths. - June Kim

It is easier for me to take ten good pictures in an airplane bathroom than in the gardens at Versailles. - Sally Mann

Berenice Abbott

The photographer is the contemporary being par excellence; through his (her) eyes the now becomes the past. - Bernice Abbott

Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) American photographer best known for her 20th century portraits, 1930 images of NYC, and 1940-1960 science interpretations. She studied under Man Ray and exhibited with Alfred Stieglitz. Abbott, played a pivotal role bridging the photographic scenes of Paris and New York. Born in Ohio, she initially pursued sculpture, forming key connections with Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray in New York. Her journey led her to Paris in 1921, where she continued her sculptural studies and ultimately delved into photography, working as Man Ray's assistant. Following Eugène Atget's passing, Abbott collaborated to acquire his archives, preserving his legacy. Abbott's dedication to a documentary style of photography and her promotion of Atget's work left an indelible mark on the art world, with her retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in 1970 solidifying her legacy.

The challenge for me has first been to see things as they are, whether a portrait, a city street, or a bouncing ball. In a word, I have tried to be objective. What I mean by objectivity is not the objectivity of a machine, but of a sensible human being with the mystery of personal selection at the heart of it. The second challenge has been to impose order onto the things seen and to supply the visual context and the intellectual framework – that to me is the art of photography. – Berenice Abbott

Joyce Tenneson

I’ve heard many times that with all good artists it’s ultimately a self-portrait even if it’s an abstraction. I feel my work is very much who I am. I didn’t try to make it that way; it just is. It reflects who I am and also my interests. - Joyce Tenneson

Claire Seidl

The painter constructs, the photographer discloses. - Susan Sontag

Asia Kepka

 Horace is a horse, and Agnes is a squirrel, though there are no boundaries when it comes to true love and genuine companionship. Bursting with color, style, and humor, this is the photographic journal of Horace and Agnes’s romance, and their life of simple pleasures—walks on the beach, jigsaw puzzles, quick getaways to Las Vegas, visits with relatives, festive parties, and quiet nights at home. In a series of self-portraits created by photographer Asia Kepka, we follow Horace and Agnes through their highs and their lows with spectacular detail and charm. Originally exhibited at Boston’s Griffin Museum of Photography in 2014, Kepka’s pictures reveal her meticulous eye for mid-century art direction, props, and wardrobe, and coauthor Lynn Dowling writes in effortlessly witty, affecting prose. Hailed by the Boston Globe as “Beatrix Potter joining forces with Ozzie and Harriett,” this is a valentine of a book for all ages and seasons.

If you are not willing to see more than is visible, you won’t see anything. – Ruth Bernhard

DM Witman

The American painter William Bradford set off for an expedition to experience the monolithic icebergs in 1864 off the coast of Labrador in the North Atlantic Ocean. He was accompanied by William H. Pierce, a photographer from Brunswick, Maine. The original glass plate photographs from Pierce, are believed to be the first photographs of icebergs.

In this suite of images, I attempt to draw attention to the plight of the Arctic, and the human and more-than-human species via climate disruption where no one or place will be spared. 

Historian, scholar, and author Geoffrey Batchen leans into an understanding of Roland Barthe’s seminal book Camera Lucida regarding the image of a dead young man, I read, “This will be and this has been; I observe a catastrophe which has already occurred.” Barthes discerns that every photograph contains the sign of his death, and that the essence of photography is the implied message: ''That has been.''

And so, too, the Arctic and its fleeting icebergs have “been”.

Arctic Elegy

The American painter William Bradford set off for an expedition to experience the monolithic icebergs in 1864 off the coast of Labrador in the North Atlantic Ocean. He was accompanied by William H. Pierce, a photographer from Maine. These photographs by Pierce may be the first known of these icy structures.

Historian, scholar, and author Geoffrey Batchen leans into an understanding of Roland Barthe’s seminal book Camera Lucida regarding the image of a dead young man, I read, “This will be and this has been; I observe a catastrophe which has already occurred.” Barthes discerns that every photograph contains the sign of his death, and that the essence of photography is the implied message: ''That has been.''

And so, too, the Arctic and its fleeting icebergs have “been”.

DM is a transdisciplinary artist working with photographic media, video, and installation. Her work explores climate disruption and the impacts of human influence on ecological and societal webs. Her research and creative practice are deeply rooted within the realm of the effects of human impacts on this world, and most recently, “ecological grief”. The world is experiencing a time of extraordinary ecological loss - of species, habitat, ecological connectivity, and personal connection to the natural world. As individuals and communities deal with the shifts in the physical environment, so too, must we deal with the psychological and existential changes to ourselves and our communities.  She shares her time between the banks of the St. George River in Maine and the Borderlands of South Texas.  Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she is the recipient of grants from Maine Arts Commission, The John Anson Kittredge Fund, and The Kindling Fund (a re-grantor for The Warhol Foundation).  

I try to make art which celebrates doubt and uncertainty. Which provokes answers but doesn't give them. Which withholds absolute meaning by incorporating parasite meanings. Which suspends meaning while perpetually dispatching you toward interpretation, urging you beyond dogmatism, beyond doctrine, beyond ideology, beyond authority. - Sherrie Levine

Christine Higgins

Christine Johnson Higgins works in her woodland studio in Readfield Maine. She earned her B.A. in art from Marietta College, Ohio, and M.Ed. in Integrated Arts from Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Northeast, Ohio, Ecuador and Finland, and she has been featured in various publications. Seasonally, she explores pulp painting and other fiber techniques during the summer, while taking photographs and translating them into photogravure prints year round.

All the technique you can learn - and you should learn everything you can - you should have it here in the fingers not here in the head - and then you forget about it. -Lotte Jacobi

Jeanne Hutchins

The painter constructs, the photographer discloses. - Susan Sontag

Linda Connor

Linda Connor is an American photographer based in San Francisco, is renowned for her landscape photography. Over her career, she has captured diverse landscapes in numerous countries like India, Mexico, Thailand, Ireland, Peru, and Nepal. Additionally, she has been a professor in the Photography Department at the San Francisco Art Institute since 1969 and served on the board of Friends of Photography from 1985 to 1999. In 1999, she founded and became the president of Photo Alliance.

The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own. - Susan Sontag

Lisa Mossel

“I very strongly believe that if you go back to your roots, if you mine that inner territory, you can bring out something that is indelibly you and authentic – like your thumbprint. Its going to have your style because there is no one like you.” – Joyce Tenneson

Sal Taylor Kydd

Karen Olson

The heart utilizes neurons similar to those in the brain, with more neural pathways flowing from the heart to the brain than vice versa. This two-way communication fundamentally shapes our perception of the world. As we experience our surroundings, the heart receives and encodes information, maintaining a constant neural dialogue with the brain. Through its ability to both transmit and receive electromagnetic energy; the heart serves as a true organ of Perception. The heart sense represents a unique form of intelligence that extends beyond our Five conventional senses. Through our sensory experiences, we can cultivate a heart centered awareness that reveals our deep connection with life around us. This inner knowing of the heart awakens our intuition and imagination, drawing us naturally toward a more coherent relationship with our world. In cultivating the heart sense, we become known by other beings and we in turn come to know them deeply. K.O.

Karen Olson is a lens-based artist working at the intersection of human emotion and the natural world. In her figurative and nature-inspired work, she uses concept-based projects to explore the human-nature connection and its role in fostering mental health and communication. Working in photography and paper sculpture, she employs the act of constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing with both physical materials and digital files. Karen's process includes earth pigments, Japanese and Korean papers, and ancient art techniques. K.O.

I try to make art which celebrates doubt and uncertainty. Which provokes answers but doesn't give them. Which withholds absolute meaning by incorporating parasite meanings. Which suspends meaning while perpetually dispatching you toward interpretation, urging you beyond dogmatism, beyond doctrine, beyond ideology, beyond authority. - Sherrie Levine

Sara Stites

There is indeed something omnivorous about the act of photography. It offers a way of responding to everything about everything. - Lucy R. Lippard

Fay Godwin

Fay Godwin (1931 -2005) was a renowned British photographer celebrated for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coastline. Her interest in photography began in the 1960s, initially capturing her children, but she soon delved into creating intricate landscape images, often collaborating with writers to explore rural themes. While her work could be associated with the romantic tradition of British landscape photography, akin to Bill Brandt or Edwin Smith, Godwin's socialist and environmentalist convictions led her to infuse her photographs with the historical traces of human presence and intervention on the land, providing a unique perspective on her subjects.

MEN HAVE DOMINATED THE FIELD OF LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY JUST AS THEY HAVE DOMINATED THE LAND ITSELF. THUS SHOOTING A VIRGIN LANDSCAPE HAS BEEN MAN'S WORK - HUNTING, NOT GARDENING.

- LUCY R. LIPPARD

I’ve heard many times that with all good artists it’s ultimately a self-portrait even if it’s an abstraction. I feel my work is very much who I am. I didn’t try to make it that way; it just is. It reflects who I am and also my interests. - Joyce Tenneson

A piece of paper or a photograph is as much an object, or as 'material' as a ton of lead. - Lucy Lippard

I don’t have two lives. This is one life, and the personal pictures and assignment work are all part of it. - Annie Leibovitz

The smartphone and social media are the most significant changes to the medium (photography) over the last 20 years. But what is interesting is how little photography has changed. The history is the medium shifting and changing to technological advances and the world at large; that continues. - Susan Bright

I tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been. - Diane Arbus

It was clear, I was not Manet's type. Picasso—who had a way with women—only used me & Duchamp never even considered me. - Carrie Mae Weems

All the technique you can learn - and you should learn everything you can - you should have it here in the fingers not here in the head - and then you forget about it. -Lotte Jacobi
It is easier for me to take ten good pictures in an airplane bathroom than in the gardens at Versailles. - Sally Mann

Once a woman who does street work said to me, 'I've never photographed anyone I haven't asked first.' I said to her, 'Suppose Cartier-Bresson asked the man who jumped the puddle to do it again - it never would have been the same. Start stealing!' Imogen Cunningham

One reason I was interested in photography was to get away from the preciousness of the art object.” – Cindy Sherman

The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own. - Susan Sontag

A photograph is not an opinion. Or is it? - Susan Sontag

Men have dominated the field of landscape photography just as they have dominated the land itself. Thus shooting a virgin landscape has been man's work - hunting, not gardening. - Lucy R. Lippard (secondary market)

“My whole artistic life has been devoted to battling myself and my ability to externalize my deepest emotions. As I have gotten older, the work has become more direct, perhaps reflecting the fact that for the first time in my life I feel really free. I have been fascinated with wings all my life. I have had an obsession with transcendence, the need to push forward and metaphorically fly.” – Joyce Tenneson

“The way I see it, as soon as I make a piece I’ve lost control of it.” – Cindy Sherman