Scenes from “Vinalhaven: Portrait of a Maine Island” | Featured Photographer Joel Greenberg

Between 1977 and 1987, photographer Joel Greenberg captured everyday images on his seasonal home of Vinalhaven Island. The people, places, and scenic landscapes were featured in a 1989 one-man show to commemorate Vinalhaven’s Bicentennial Year, but then remained out of sight until recently, when a collaboration with well-known writer and island native Phil Crossman led to the publication of Vinalhaven: Portrait of a Maine Island.

The remarkable photographs within can be credited both to the photographer’s eye and the camera itself. They were captured using a 1929 Century Universal Field camera; an 8” x 10” view camera, which produced negatives 60 times bigger than the common 35mm, resulting in a mesmerizing display of detail, sharpness, and tonal range.

The camera, along with the tripod and film holders, weighed 20-plus pounds, but on par with the effort to capture the images was the lengthy process to develop them. Joel processed the film by hand, most of it in his cottage in a converted bedroom darkroom, combining chemicals from scratch and washing the film using a kitchen handpump supplied from a local pond. He recalls that the flow would sometimes be slowed by a beaver dam upstream, which required him to “just go and open up the beaver dam a little to get water flowing again.”

The publication of Vinalhaven: Portrait of a Maine Island gave many who love the island a reason to renew their admiration and affection. Here’s how Joel describes its reception:

Its popularity is way beyond a photo book. It touches people deeply in a way that few photographs or art can. I had exhibits and many things published over the years. People have appreciated and admired my work but this is the first work that I created that has struck a deep personal chord. It is the book and all the elements that have gone into it. Everyone that has contributed to it.

Joel credits the book’s success to the sum of its passionate Vinalhaven parts: personal narratives from Phil Crossman, a foreword by Andrew Cohen, editing from Mary Gooderham, book design by Lucian Burg, and a beautiful website from Brent Pruner.

It is available for purchase through https://www.vinalhavenbook.com and at many independent Maine bookshops.

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Senior Digital Editor. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.

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