View from Ruohomaa’s Farm on Dodge Mountain in Rockland. Photo by Kosti Ruohomaa, part of the Penobscot Marine Museum photo archives provided courtesy of Penobscot Marine Museum
The University of Maine at Augusta, in partnership with the Penobscot Marine Museum, will present “Kosti Ruohomaa’s Beloved Maine” at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 20, via Zoom.
Speakers Deanna Bonner-Ganter, author of “Kosti Ruohomaa: The Photographer Poet,” and Kevin Johnson, Penobscot Marine Museum photo archivist, will delve into the life and work of this iconic Maine photographer.
Ruohomaa’s lens captured the villagers taking a “gander” in the general store, the tough farmers, woodsmen, river drivers, and fishermen who worked with their hands close to land and sea. The presentation selects images of Ruohomaa’s poetic sensitivity not only of the people and rugged geography, but his visions of Maine’s winter, winter nights, and the rugged coastal landscape.
Ruohomaa was a storyteller with his camera, capturing the spirit and culture of Maine through its people and landscape. His photographs were featured in various publications including Life, Look, National Geographic, Ladies Home Journal, and Down East.
In 2018, a large collection of Ruohomaa’s work was given to Penobscot Marine Museum by his agency, Black Star of New York. While his published work is fairly well known, it represents less than 10% of the photographs he made; the rest of his photographs had never been seen by the general public.
This event is part of University of Maine at Augusta’s series exploring the artists, writers, and innovators who shaped and chronicled Maine’s mid-century cultural evolution.
This event is open to the public, but an RSVP is required to receive a Zoom link at form.jotform.com/211165897979173.
For more information, visit penobscotmarinemuseum.org/events-list/.
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