Maine I Love — Roger McCord

Rockland, Maine: My wife and I escaped from the Portland suburbs last year, landing in Rockland. Su fell in love with our dog-walking neighborhood and the daily parade of folks up and down our street. I fell in love with the docks. It happened by chance—most photographers make it a habit to scout around, by foot and by car, looking for scenes. When I chanced upon the waterfront, it was love at first sight. But this was more than a “scene,” it was like walking into a cinematic staging area. The graceful, gritty lobsterboats queue up at dawn to load bait, then return in late afternoon to unload those prized crustaceans. Dockhands and boat crews work with a measured, efficient pace. One August day at the J&J Lobster dock on Schooner Wharf, dockhand Christian Deabler slid a full lobster crate into the water as the Megan Leigh headed back to her mooring. In itself, this daily harvest is an interesting narrative. But here’s the thing: it all takes place on what qualifies as a movie set. Those skies! A waterfront is meteorological magic. Warm land, cold ocean, and evaporation combine to put on mind-boggling cloud shows that change all day long. It’s art, dawn to dusk, using a limitless palette of reds, blues, and every gradation of gray. This is the Maine I love.

Roger McCord is a career media producer, from photojournalism to video production.