When he was a young man finding his way in the world, award-winning photographer Peter Ralston was introduced to the beautiful and austere coast of Maine by his friends Andrew and Betsy Wyeth. It was an introduction that was to change his life forever. In Maine's coastal communities, and especially on the islands, Ralston found what every artist is looking for: a place to spend a creative lifetime, a subject that embodies every element of human experience. Today, through his work with the Island Institute, Ralston is one of the premier chroniclers and defenders of an enduring yet imperiled coastal way of life—a way marked by independence and interdependence, a way followed by men, women, and children of character and integrity.

In his rich, honest photographs, at once straightforward and subtle, Ralston captures every aspect of Maine's coastal culture; the bond between a father who has spent his life hunting the fish of the sea and a son who can only hope to do the same; the poignant emptiness of a one-room island schoolhouse where children will never study again; the gathering menace of a summer thunderstorm on the water; the cycle of death and rebirth found in every tidepool.

An introduction by Christopher Crosman, director of the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, places Ralston in the tradition of great photographers who have found inspiration in the Maine landscape. In the text and captions accompanying this selection of 130 color photographs, Ralston invites us to share in the extraordinary artistic communion he has achieved with the people and places of Maine's coast.

"Of all of the books with which I've been involved over the years (see bio), this one means more to me than all the rest of them put together. It's the culmination of the focused work of the past 18 years—a time during which I weaned myself from the successful but less heartfelt photographic endeavors I was then pursuing, a time during which I 'went deep' in one place. A time of rediscovering 'home.' My greatest hope is that SIGHTINGS will give the reader pause to consider what, exactly, is special about the places which inform and cast our lives—and that it will lead people to contemplate the unique qualities which yet exist here. I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and am pleased to share this limited selection of just a few of the 130 color plates." —Peter Ralston

Peter Ralston

Peter Ralston's photography has appeared in thirty-four books and more than fifty magazines, including American Artist, Architectural Digest, Art and Antiques, Connoisseur, National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, People, Smithsonian, and Time, as well as as on NBC's Today Show. Galleries in this country and abroad exhibit his images. (See bio.)

In addition to helping to represent the work of his friend Jamie Wyeth, Ralston has been the Wyeth family's reproduction photographer of choice since 1978. Although as a young man Ralston studied very briefly under Ansel Adams, he acknowledges the greater artistic influence of a lifetime of association with the Wyeths—close friends and incisive mentors.

Instrumental in forming the Island Institute in 1983, Peter Ralston serves today as its executive vice-president. He has contributed most of the photography and served as art director for the Institute's Island Journal since its inception and continues to spend as much time as he possibly can on and around islands. He lives with his children on the western side of Penobscot Bay.

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Images and text copyright ©1997-2010 by Peter Ralston. All Rights Reserved

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