Echoes, Still: Maine’s Industrial Remnants
Echoes, Still is an expansive photographic exploration of Maine’s industrial remnants across all sixteen counties, seen through a contemporary lens. Organized into thematic portfolios, the project maps the state’s industrial history, from its first cotton mill, Brunswick Cotton Manufacturing, circa 1809, through the rise and decline of its limestone, shoe, woolen, and paper industries. Moving beyond the conventions of historical record or documentary practice, the work approaches abandoned mills, factories, and industrial sites as spatial archives, where architecture, texture, light, and decay hold traces of the labor and lives once embedded within them. Informed by the artist’s family histories of industrial labor, Echoes, Still explores the tensions between presence and absence, preservation and erasure, abandonment and renewal, and memory and time, rendering Maine’s industrial terrain as a physical and psychological palimpsest that continues to shape place, memory, and belonging.
Over the course of the project, the artist has created a collection of 400 photographic works organized into 13 individual portfolios, each examining a distinct aspect of Maine’s industrial heritage. Collectively, the portfolios document textile mills, paper mills, grist mills, limestone operations, manufacturing complexes, waterpower systems, industrial interiors, machinery, and the communities that developed around these places.
The project recognizes that industrial heritage extends beyond the physical structures that remain. Mills and factories were not simply places of production; they were centers of community life where generations of workers built families, established neighborhoods, developed local economies, and contributed to the growth of Maine’s towns and cities. The industrial landscape therefore serves as both a physical record of production and a social record of the people whose lives were shaped by it.
Each photographic work is accompanied by extensive historical documentation, including the name and location of the site, date of construction, original industry, historical significance, date of photographic documentation, and a detailed written essay exploring the architectural, industrial, environmental, and social history of the location. Together, the photographs and accompanying research form a unified body of visual and historical documentation.
Many of the sites within Echoes, Still have been altered, repurposed, abandoned, or lost, while others survive only in fragmentary form. The collection preserves these places at a moment of ongoing transformation, bringing together photographic interpretation and historical research to create a lasting resource for future research, interpretation, and education.
The collection approaches industrial architecture not solely as a study of buildings, but as a study of human experience. Mills, dams, waterways, machinery, foundations, and surrounding landscapes become evidence of the complex relationships among technology, labor, community, and environment. Within these spaces, material surfaces and architectural remnants retain traces of use, adaptation, abandonment, and renewal.
Through photography and sustained historical research, Echoes, Still preserves both the physical remains and collective memory of an industrial era that profoundly shaped Maine. The resulting archive offers a contemporary record of the state’s industrial landscape while examining the ways these places continue to influence memory, identity, community, and a sense of belonging.
With its statewide scope and multidisciplinary approach, Echoes, Still is positioned as both a significant contemporary photographic project and an institutional collection. The project is intended for museums, archives, libraries, historical societies, universities, and other cultural institutions committed to preserving and interpreting Maine’s industrial, architectural, environmental, and social history. The work is also intended for public and private collections focused on contemporary photography, Maine history, regional identity, and industrial heritage. The collection is planned for formal release in 2028.
2. Collection Overview
Echoes, Still: Maine’s Industrial Remnants is being developed as a collection of 520 photographic works organized across 13 thematic portfolios, with 40 images currently comprising each portfolio. Through a final editing and curatorial process, the working collection will be refined to a final body of 400 photographic works. The project spans all sixteen Maine counties, with a project period of 2024–2028 and formal release projected for 2028.
The collection examines Maine’s industrial landscape through a broad range of industries, structures, systems, and environments. Industries represented include cotton and woolen manufacturing; bleachery and dye works; blueberry and fruit production; commercial trade; railroads; flour, grain, and animal feed; shipbuilding; shoe manufacturing; paper production; colonial industrial enterprises; mechanized industries and machinery; lumber; limestone; hydroelectric power; and the interconnected systems of canals, dams, waterways, rivers, streams, and lake outlets that supported industrial development throughout the state.
The collection encompasses a wide range of industrial sites and structures, including mills, factories, manufacturing complexes, hydroelectric stations, dams, canals, gate houses, intake stations, bridges, waterways, machinery, and associated industrial landscapes. Among the documented sites are Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Company, c. 1892; Weston Station Hydroelectric Plant, c. 1920; Box Mill Dam Fish Ladder, c. 2022; Cross-Canal No. 1 Gate House (the Bates Gatehouse); Lewiston Mills Footbridge, c. 1887; Cross Canal No. 1 Intake Station, c. 1840s; Campbell & Joy Coat Factory, c. 1895; Burrell, Houghton & Company Boot & Shoe Factory, c. 1888; Ellsworth’s Shoe and Hardwood Mill, c. 1888; Ellsworth Hardwood Company, c. 1907; Cowan Mill, c. 1850; Columbia Mills Manufacturers of Blankets; Apollo Tanning Ltd., c. 1997; Gould Plug and Wedge Mill, c. 1855; L.N. Littlehale Grain Company, c. 1903; Moses Parker’s Tannery, c. 1818; Ellsworth Foundry & Machine Company (Works), c. 1884; Knox Lincoln Farmers and K L Feed Mill, c. 1965; Southard Mill, c. 1881; Barker Mill, c. 1873; Knox Woolen Mill, c. 1863; Topsham Paper Co., Cupola No. 1, c. 1868; Bates Complex, Mill No. 01, c. 1852; Brunswick Cotton Manufactory Company, c. 1809; Waldoboro Shoe Factory, Cupola No. 1, c. 1888; Androscoggin Mills, c. 1851; Porter Mill, c. 1855; Waldoboro Shoe Factory, c. 1888; Winthrop Woolen & Cotton Manufactory, c. 1809; North Yarmouth Manufacturing Company, c. 1847; Lang, Stackpole & Pope, c. 1851; Mayo & Son Woolen Mill, c. 1844; Goodall Worsted Spinning Factory, c. 1867; Dana Warp Mill, c. 1866; Westbrook Manufacturing Company, Mill No. 2, c. 1868; Pepperell Manufacturing Company, Mill No. 20, c. 1911; Hill Manufacturing Company, c. 1850; Robinson Manufacturing Company, c. 1840; Lincoln Mill, c. 1853; Edwards Manufacturing Company, c. 1845; Lockwood Cotton Mill, c. 1876; C. F. Hathaway Company, c. 1956; International Woolen Company, c. 1924; Lewiston Bleachery & Dye Works, c. 1860; Abbott Woolen Company, c. 1849; and Worumbo Mills No. 1, c. 1864.
Each photographic work is supported by historical research and site documentation. Individual locations are accompanied by a three- to four-paragraph historical significance statement establishing the site's industrial, architectural, geographic, and social context. Selected sites are further developed through 1,500–2,000-word written essays, providing more extensive historical interpretation and documentation.
The collection also incorporates historical cartographic material as part of its archival and visual research. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps dating from the 1870s through the 1950s accompany photographs in the Empty Empires portfolio and selected works from other portfolios. These maps are reproduced at 24 × 30 inches on Hahnemühle photographic paper, creating a direct visual relationship between historical documentation and contemporary photographic interpretation.
The 13 thematic portfolios currently comprising the working collection are:
Clocks, Cupolas, Towers
Cotton, Woolens
Empty Empires
Grain, Leather, Pulp
Exteriors
Glass, Iron, Stone
Facades
Interiors
Machinery
Murals
Neighborhoods
Renaissance
Falls, Outlets, Rivers
In addition to the 13 thematic portfolios, Echoes, Still includes Signature Portfolios, consisting of selected works drawn from the larger collection. These portfolios are conceived as focused presentations of key photographs and may contain three or five works per portfolio, providing a concentrated entry point into the broader project.
The 520-image working collection will undergo a final editing and curatorial process to establish the definitive 400-work collection for the 2028 release. Together, the photographs, thematic portfolios, historical research, written essays, site documentation, and accompanying Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps form an integrated body of contemporary photographic and historical research.
3. The 13 Portfolios
1. Clocks, Cupolas, Towers
Premise: Clocks, Cupolas, Towers examines the architectural elements that gave Maine’s mills and factories their distinctive presence while regulating the rhythms of industrial and community life. Mill clocks marked the hours of the working day, but their influence extended well beyond the factory floor—organizing workers’ schedules, mealtimes, family life, and even the rhythms of attending church on Sunday. For communities accustomed to the seasonal cycles and daylight of agricultural life, the mill clock introduced a new temporal order: “factory time,” replacing natural rhythms with the regulated schedule of industrial production.
Traditional louvered cupolas provided continuous ventilation, helping remove the hot, humid air generated within mills and factories, while others incorporated glass panes to bring daylight into otherwise dark interiors. Weathervanes served practical purposes as well, providing an indication of wind direction and, in some communities, an early warning of approaching storms. These elements were therefore not merely decorative features; they were functional components of industrial architecture and daily life.
Mill towers became among the most recognizable structures within industrial communities, serving as geographical anchors visible from surrounding neighborhoods and landscapes. Over time, they came to symbolize community identity, industrial achievement, and civic pride. More broadly, towers have long served as expressions of a civilization’s wealth, human ambition, and spiritual aspiration, rising above the surrounding landscape as physical markers of collective achievement and, at times, symbols of divine protection. Within Maine’s industrial communities, the mill tower embodied these overlapping meanings—representing the power of industry while simultaneously marking the community’s place within the larger landscape.
Together, the clocks, cupolas, towers, and weathervanes reveal how seemingly functional architectural elements could shape the rhythms, identity, aspirations, and collective memory of the communities surrounding Maine’s mills and factories.
3. The 13 Portfolios
This is where we explain what the 13 portfolios actually are.
For each:
Portfolio Title
One-sentence premise
Geographic scope
Industrial/historical focus
Number of works
This could become one of the most important sections because it demonstrates that the 400 works aren't simply a large accumulation of photographs—they constitute a structured body of research.
4. Geographic Scope
A statewide perspective:
All 16 Maine counties
Ideally, eventually, this section includes a Maine map showing the locations represented in the collection.
5. Historical & Research Framework
Explain how you research the sites and what information accompanies each photograph.
This is where we establish the scholarly/archival credibility of the project.
6. Artistic Approach
This would expand on the conceptual ideas from your opening without repeating the opening itself:
Spatial archive
Contemporary interpretation
Documentary elements vs. documentary practice
Architecture and materiality
Absence/presence
Memory and place
Labor and community
Time and decay
7. Institutional & Collecting Value
This is where we answer:
Why should an institution or collection acquire this?
Potential value:
Contemporary photography
Maine history
Industrial heritage
Working-community history
Architecture
Environmental history
Research
Education
Exhibition potential
Long-term archival value
8. Exhibition & Public Programming
How the collection could be used after acquisition:
Exhibition
Lectures
Educational programs
Community history programs
Publications
Digital presentation
Research access
9. Acquisition Framework
This is where the business-plan component really begins:
Complete collection
Individual portfolios
Selected works
Institutional acquisition
Public/private collection
Exhibition + acquisition possibilities
10. Project Timeline
2024–2028
We can lay out what happened/what will happen during each year rather than just saying the project began in 2024 and releases in 2028.
11. Financial & Acquisition Considerations
Eventually:
Collection valuation
Portfolio valuation
Individual work pricing
Acquisition options
Production/printing costs
Archival materials
Exhibition costs
Shipping/installation
Potential funding/sponsorship
12. Appendices
Complete 400-work inventory
Portfolio index
Site index
County index
Sample artwork record
Sample historical essay
Artist biography
Technical specifications
Bibliography/research sources
No. I would not alphabetize them.
Because these are artist-defined thematic portfolios, their order should communicate something—conceptual progression, visual rhythm, historical movement, or the way the collection is intended to be experienced.
Your current sequence has a natural logic:
Clocks, Cupolas, Towers — vertical markers / architectural identity
Cotton, Woolens — textile industry
Empty Empires — abandonment / absence
Grain, Leather, Pulp — industrial materials and production
Exteriors — architectural presence
Glass, Iron, Stone — materiality
Facades — architectural surface
Interiors — architectural space
Machinery — mechanisms / production
Murals — human expression / industrial culture
Neighborhoods — community
Renaissance — renewal / transformation
Falls, Outlets, Rivers — landscape / water / systems
There is actually a conceptual arc here: from the built industrial landscape, through materials, interiors and machinery, toward human community, renewal, and the natural systems that made industry possible.
That is much more interesting than alphabetical order.