"Hidden Coast of Maine”

“The Hidden Coast of Maine” June 3

They say the coast of Maine would be almost 3,500 miles long if stretched straight. They say you can never see it all. Maybe they’re right. But photographer Joe Devenney and journalist Ken Textor have seen a lot of it, from the Isles of Shoals on the New Hampshire border to West Quoddy Head down east. In The Hidden Coast of Maine, Joe’s images and Ken’s musings take readers far and deep into this dramatic but elusive world. Devenney and Textor will give a slide presentation on “The Hidden Coast of Maine” on Tuesday evening, June 3, at 7:00 pm at the Camden Public Library.

The Hidden Coast of Maine was just published this March by Tilbury House Publishers, which recently moved from Gardiner, Maine, to Thomaston. The book, and the slide talk, offer photos of the Maine coast in all seasons and weathers, from the shore to offshore islands, images that took Joe Devenney 37 years to compile. It also offers insights that took Ken Textor 35 years to earn. Every photo in the book was taken from a vantage point you can reach by car of ferry — 86 destinations, 200 vistas, and a thousand excursions into the life and natural history of a storied coast.

Joe Devenney has been photographing the Maine coast for thirty-seven years, and Ken Textor has been writing about it equally as long. Separately — and occasionally on assignment together — they have turned over many stones in this varied 3,000-mile-long coastline, seeking out and recording its moods, seasons, and secrets. Now they are sharing their rich accumulation of images and insights. Joe’s photos capture moments of ephemeral grace and beauty in places that are forgotten or hiding in plain sight. Smelt Brook in Castine is not on any standard itinerary. Neither are South Addison, Merrymeeting Bay, the Scarborough Marsh, and many other places Joe has explored over the years. Even places that are familiar to many — West Quoddy Head, Old Orchard Beach, Monhegan Island, Pemaquid Point, Portland Harbor, Acadia National Park, and others — are revealed by Joe’s camera in moments of other-worldly allure.

Ken Textor’s essays reveal hidden nuggets: why the shade on a Castine street has a strange, nostalgic feel; what to think of a mauve lobster boat or a seemingly abandoned dory in the weeds; how a lighthouse surrounded by granite quarries came to be built of brick; which is the front and which is the back of a house built between Main Street and the harbor; how to enumerate the many services provided by a salt marsh; why the lobstering isn’t better in upper Blue Hill Bay; why sea air makes us hungry; and how a worm digger turns a mudflat into money.

Joe Devenney has been photographing Maine since 1976 and has been a professional outdoor/location photographer since 1983, shooting on assignment for The New York Times, American Profile, Audubon, and other clients. His photographs have appeared on the covers of Down East; Yankee; Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors; Northeast Boating; Points East; and other magazines and have been published worldwide by the National Geographic Society, The Sierra Club, and Reader’s Digest, among others. His prints are shown in galleries, juried shows, and festivals throughout the eastern U.S. and are included in many private collections. His work is featured in the collections of Getty Images, The Image Pro Shop, and alamy. Joe lives in Jefferson, Maine.

Ken Textor has ranged the Maine coast by land and sea since the late 1970s. He is a contributing editor for Down East magazine and has been boating columnist for the Maine Sunday Telegram, contributing editor for Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors and Country Journal, columnist for Popular Woodworker, and managing editor for Boating Digest. His writing has appeared in Wooden Boat, Cruising World, SAIL, Northeast Boating, Fine Gardening, This Old House, Points East, Sailing, Yachting, and other publications. Ken began his writing career as a general assignment reporter for the Concord (NH) Monitor and was bureau chief for the Claremont (NH) Eagle-Times. He is the author of two previous books, Innocents Afloat and The New Book of SAIL Trim.