In July 2025 I visited Waldoboro, a small central coast town in Maine. I had been invited by the Gravedigger's Daughter, an art gallery and community darkroom, for a two-week residency to create a photo document of my experience there. I photographed my way around the state, from the New Hampshire border to Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park. I visited Christmas Tree farms (the northern white pine, a common Christmas tree, is Maine's state tree), a lake house, and a county fair. There were miles-long stretches of state roads with American flags on almost every utility pole and patriotic buntings across porches leading the way to town centers. I learned about Maine's original "Lone Star and Pine" flag, of which various forms had been used by its militia since the 1820's. With a blue star in the corner and a green pine in the center it symbolizes the state motto Dirigo, Latin for "I direct". In this imagining Maine is the "Lone Star", the blue star, the North star that guides.

Each day I took off at sunrise with a destination in mind knowing that I would allow myself to take as many detours as needed. Here is some of what I saw.