The majestic pine trees and graceful waterways of the forests of Maine have inspired and captivated American writers and artists for centuries. The exhibit currently on display in the Woodbury Campus Center in Portland traces that captivation back through the last two centuries, bringing together work from four different moments throughout the last 145 years. Taken in total, the exhibit delivers a powerful and touching lesson about the timeless wonders of the Maine woods.
At the center of the exhibit – “Call and Thoreau: Age and Spirit” – are 19 photographs by Bert L. Call (1866-1965) depicting the places described in Henry David Thoreau’s book “The Maine Woods.” Next to each photo hangs an accompanying text selected from the book.
While not as well known as his classic work “Walden” or his essay on civil disobedience, “The Maine Woods” is one of Thoreau’s greatest travel journals. Published posthumously in 1866, four years after his death, the text documents a trip Thoreau took to the Maine woods toward the end of his life. Under the direction of a local guide whom he refers to simply as “The Indian,” Thoreau hiked and paddled his way through the forest, recording vivid descriptions of his experiences alongside personal musings about ethics and politics.
Twenty-two years later, in 1886, a young man in Dexter, Maine named Bert Call became interested in photography. Over the next 80 years Call, who would became one of the more successful commercial photographers in the state, took frequent pictures of the wilderness of Maine.
A fellow Dexter resident and a personal friend of Call’s – local historian Frank Spizuoco – curated the exhibit, selecting the photographs and finding the matching texts. “I was in my twenties when I met Bert, and I learned a lot of Dexter history listening to him,” said Spizuoco. “He was a natural story teller.” Originally assembled for the organization that Spizuoco directs, the Dexter Historical Society, the exhibit was brought to USM this year with help from the History and Political Science departments. Spizuoco hopes it will help garner attention to the largely unrecognized work of his hero and friend.
The photos that Spizuoco selected have a very calm and pleasing natural feel, due in part to their coloration, which ranges from light to dark grey, avoiding true blacks or vivid whites almost entirely. The first section of photos depict the hike up Mt. Katahdin while the next few show a canoe trip along a stream. The last shots capture a hike through the Maine wilderness.
In each section, the images are split between sweeping photos of large stretches of forest, which drift off into the foggy distance, and tight intimate photographs of particular details. Given their early date, the precision and clarity of these close, constrained photos are impressive – it almost feels like you could walk up and touch the leaves and bark.
Despite the unsightly glare on the photos from the gallery spotlights, the exhibit has been very well received by the student body. Gorham resident Allie Lesnick summed up her reaction to the exhibit in a single word – “gorgeous.”
Just off of the main exhibit is a smaller one put together by the Thoreau EYE class. This sub-exhibit presents a series of Thoreau-inspired journal entries and photos taken by the class on a three-day trip to Walden woods, the site of Thoreau’s most famous work “Walden.”
The students’ startlingly colorful photos capture a variety of scenes, including autumn leaves and birds walking on the beach, and show an attention to natural beauty that rivals that of Call’s. The journal entries, which were written by Freshmen Amanda Roderick, Eric Favreau and Tinamarie Webber, all engage Thoreau’s ideas thoughtfully and do a solid job of complimenting the other works in the gallery.
And just like that, the torch is passed: from the great Transcendentalist philosopher to a nineteenth century photographer, from a local historian to today’s USM students. The show runs through through the end of this week, Dec. 12. Don’t miss it.
A&E Editor Rob Korobkin contributed reporting to this article.