Cancer Today Magazine

January 26, 2022 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Editorial

If the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that we are in this together.

We all could use a strong, supportive community that helps when times get tough. Nothing for me epitomizes the power of community to do good like Man Up To Cancer, a cancer support group for men started by my friend Trevor Maxwell.

Man Up To Cancer

Trevor and I have known each other since our newspaper days, but reconnected during the pandemic to work on a couple of creative projects. I’m proud and happy to share the results of our latest collaboration: a current cover feature on Trevor for Cancer Today magazine. You can read the digital version here.

In the article, Trevor talks about surviving stage IV cancer and his decision to reach out to other men who struggle with the disease. Men like him, who need support but find it difficult to reach out to others and ask for the help they need.

His community and podcast is two years old now. Cancer survivors around the country sport hats or shirts with the Man Up To Cancer ‘howling wolf’ logo. Trevor has turned a personally difficult, potentially tragic, situation into something that positively impacts others.

Or, as Trevor puts it: “When life gets hard, we all need our wolfpacks.”

Showcase: Rwanda Bean Coffee Company

August 25, 2021 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Client Work, On Assignment, Showcase

Rwanda Bean Coffee

I’m happy to share an image I took for the cover of Down East Magazine‘s August 2021 Food & Drink section. This was part of a feature on Maine’s Rwanda Bean Company, which operates three locations including the newest on Portland’s Thompson’s Point.

I was envisioning rich dark coffee beans softly lit with warm early morning window light. Unfortunately, my assignment was scheduled just after noon on a gloomy, cloudy day. The only way I could get the image that I most wanted was to create an early-morning sun look, using lights placed outside the shop, shining through the windows with warming gels attached. You’d never know that it was threatening to rain outside. Sometimes as a photographer, you need a little morning to go with your coffee.

Ben and Danielle Graffius at the newly-opened Rwanda Bean Roastery and Espresso Bar at Thompson’s Point in Portland, ME. The two are business partners with founder Mike Mwendata.

Showcase: Mad Patti Hat Co.

June 14, 2021 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Client Work, Editorial, Inspire Maine, Mainers at Work

Mad Patti Hat Co

A couple of months ago, just as the weather was warming up and widespread vaccinations were becoming the norm, I met and photographed Meg Patti, owner of Mad Patti Hat Company, at her studio in Brunswick, ME for the June issue of Down East Magazine.

Meg is a hat maker, which is kind of like saying Tesla is involved in the transportation business. While true, it doesn’t capture the detailed craftsmanship or the unique, one-of-a-kind hats that Patti hand-makes and ships to clients throughout the United States.

Part of her unique process is to ‘age’ each hat, giving each–as she says–their own stories. Lucky for me, that process involves at one stage the strategic application of fire to burn off the wool peach fuzz and create other effects that, once applied, make each hat a one-off instance of wearable art.

The profile is featured in the June, 2021 edition of Down East Magazine. Watch the video below to hear Patti talk about her creative process.

Hatmaker