The Blue Hill Public Library and Penobscot Marine Museum are cosponsoring a lecture by Matt Wheeler, Digital Curator at PMM, on women photographers of Midcoast Maine in the late 1800s and early 1900s on Wednesday, March 11 at 7PM in the library's Howard Room. This talk will be accompanied by a display of photographs taken by the women discussed. 

The medium of photography arose in a time of great social change in Europe and the United States, and although women’s social positions at this time would not have included them in its initial development, women were involved in the early popularization and use of the medium. Constance Fox Talbot experimented with photography even as her husband William Fox Talbot was perfecting his process—the calotype, which generated the world’s first photographic negative—before its introduction in 1841. A handful of women began opening daguerreotype studios in Europe and the U.S. as early 1843, and were among the first professionals in this technical field at a time when most women who worked outside the home were employed as domestic servants, schoolteachers, nurses, or laborers in the textile industry.

These photographs, drawn from the Penobscot Marine Museum’s permanent collections, represent the work of five women photographers, all born in the latter half of the nineteenth century and based between Boothbay and Blue Hill. Some travelled the world with their seafaring fathers or well to do husbands; others never strayed far from their origins. Some were amateurs with varying skills; others transformed their talents into income. This exhibit explores the multitude of ways women exercised the latitude of expression created by photography, a medium that’s equal parts technical and artistic. Women incorporated camera work into their daily lives, as artists, amateurs, preservationists, professionals, and as travelers and explorers, while photography altered the way men, women, and children saw the world, themselves, and each other. These are women who helped photography emerge as an egalitarian pursuit: Evie Billings Kimball Barbour of Blue Hill, Harriet Hichborn of Stockton Springs, Joanna Colcord of Searsport, Ruth Montgomery of Boothbay, and Ida Crie of Rockport. 

Matt Wheeler serves as the Digital Curator at PMM and has been working in the Museum's Photo Archives since 2011. His educational experience includes coursework in digital curation from University of Maine, Orono, as well as ongoing professional development in evolving standards and best practices in the industry. He guides PMM in building sound digital collections with an eye to accessibility and sustainability. Matt grew up in Camden and Lincolnville, living on and appreciating Penobscot Bay, and enjoys engaging audiences in the digital age with stories of Penobscot Bay's cultural heritage. His personal photography explores the rich natural settings of the region.

This program is free and open to all, and will be held in the library's Howard Room. For more information, please contact the library at 374-5515, or email Assistant Director Kayleigh Thomas at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net.