Scroll
Empty Empires occupies a distinct conceptual position within Echoes, Still, shifting the project’s attention from industrial structures that remain to the landscapes in which they have disappeared. Where Echoes, Still encounters surviving mills and factories as physical repositories of memory, Empty Empires considers absence as another form of presence. The portfolio examines sites where Maine’s industrial architecture has been destroyed, demolished, repurposed, or subsumed by new economies and civic uses—becoming schools, parks, public waterfronts, commercial districts, and contemporary industrial facilities. Rather than reconstructing these vanished places as historical artifacts, the work engages the present landscape as a palimpsest, where layers of labor, ambition, loss, and reinvention remain embedded even when the original structures are no longer visible.
The portfolio is grounded in the idea of industrial afterlife: the capacity of a place to retain meaning after its original purpose has disappeared. Camden’s former W. G. Alden Camden Iron Works, established around 1886 at the harbor head of Camden Bay along Commercial and Bayview Streets, exemplifies this process of continual transformation. Once part of Camden’s industrial waterfront, the site was later occupied by the Camden Sardine Company beginning in 1928 before being completely destroyed by fire. By 1935, the property had become Camden Public Landing and has since evolved into a contemporary tourist landscape of shops, restaurants, and parking. The present-day site offers little immediate evidence of the industries that once defined it, yet its transformation embodies the central tension of Empty Empires: the physical disappearance of industry does not necessarily erase its cultural or spatial imprint.
A parallel history unfolds at the former State Street industrial site in Ellsworth. Around 1888, Burrell, Houghton & Company constructed Ellsworth’s first modern shoe factory—a substantial three-story, 200-by-50-foot wooden building powered by a 50-horsepower steam engine. The arrival of B.E. Cole & Company began the next chapter of the factory’s history. Under Cole, the building became more firmly established in local memory and continued as one of Ellsworth’s important workplaces. Around 1907, the site entered a second industrial life when the Ellsworth Hardwood Company took occupancy, continuing there until 1957, when a fire destroyed the factory and brought the site’s industrial era to a close. The property was subsequently transformed into Knowlton Elementary School, which operated from 1961 to 2008, and later became Knowlton Park, a public recreational space for the surrounding neighborhood. Today, playground equipment, open space, landscaping, and community activity occupy a location once characterized by machinery, production, and industrial labor. The contrast is central to the portfolio: the contemporary landscape appears ordinary and familiar, yet beneath it lies a succession of industrial histories that have largely disappeared from view.
Within Echoes, Still, Empty Empires functions as a meditation on absence, erasure, transformation, and the persistence of place. It extends the project beyond the tangible remnants of brick, timber, steel, machinery, and worn surfaces to consider what happens when those physical witnesses are removed. The portfolio does not seek to mourn a vanished industrial past or restore these places to an imagined former state; instead, it asks how memory operates when the evidence of memory has itself been transformed. Together, Echoes, Still and Empty Empires establish a dialogue between presence and absence, remnant and replacement, material memory and spatial memory—revealing Maine’s industrial landscape as neither fixed nor concluded, but continually rewritten by time, human intervention, and the evolving needs of its communities..
Kevin LeDuc Burrell, Houghton & Company, Boot & Shoe, c. 1888 Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc South Point Wharf, c. 1885 Rockland, Knox County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Lewiston Falls Manufacturing Company, c. 1834 From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Moses Parker’s Tannery, c. 1818 Camden, Knox County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Little Androscoggin Mill No. 2 Woolen Yarn Factory, c. 1902 Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Gould Plug and Wedge Mill, c. 1855 Camden, Knox County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Burrell, Houghton & Company, Boot & Shoe, c. 1888 Rockland, Knox County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc L.N. Littlehale Grain Company, c. 1903 Rockland, Knox County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Burrell, Houghton & Company, Boot & Shoe, c. 1888 Rockland, Knox County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc D. Cowan Company Woolen Mill, c.1852, Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Kevin LeDuc Campbell & Joy Coat Factory, c. 1895, Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine, From Echoes, Still (2024-2028) – Empty Empires Portfolio, Pigment print, 30 × 45 inches, price $0.00
Empty Empires Portfolio
Empty Empires One
$0.00
Knowlton Park 401–409 State Street Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Industrial Heritage of Ellsworth, Volume I: Burrell, Houghton & Company Boot & Shoe Factory, c. 1888
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
26-30 School & Church Street Block Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Blood Knitting Mills: Manufacturing Women’s Knitwear in Early Twentieth-Century Maine
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
106-108 Church & School Street Block Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
38 1/2 Main Street Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
A Factory Behind Main Street: The Industrial History of 38½ Main Street, Ellsworth, Maine, 1884–1907
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Little Androscoggin Mill No. 2 Woolen Yarn Factory, c. 1902 New England Waste Products, c.1922 Tail Race Outlet, Androscoggin RIver Lincoln Street
Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Columbia Mills Manufacture of Blankets c. 18?? Home Manufacturing Company, c. 1882 Island Point, Great Falls, Androscoggin RIver Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028) Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Island Point, Great Falls, Androscoggin RIver Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028) Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
Burrell, Houghton & Company, Boot & Shoe, c. 1888 B.E. Cole & Company Boot & Shoe Factory, c. 1889 Ellsworth Hardwood Company, c. 1907–1957
$0.00
Tannery Park Site, Megunticook River
Camden, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Apollo Tanning Ltd.: The Final Industrial Phase of the Camden Tannery Site (c. 1997–2000)
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Tannery Park Site, Megunticook River
Camden, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Gould Plug and Wedge Mill: Origins of Industrial Production on the Megunticook River
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Riverhouse Hotel Tannery Lane, Megunticook River Camden, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Moses Parker’s Tannery: The Tanning Industry in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Dairy Queen
40 Park & Union - Pleasent Street Block Rockland, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Park, Union & Myrtle Street Rockland, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Rockland-Rockport Lime Corp., c. 1900 Safe Harbor Yacht Club, c. 2020
60 Ocean Street
Rockland, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Safe Harbor: From Rockland Slips to a Marine Ecosystem
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Mill Race Stream, Androscoggin River Great Island, Topsham, Sagadahoc County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
The Bowdoin Paper Manufacturing Company: The Industrial Transformation of Brunswick–Topsham, Maine, 1868–1895
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Knowlton Park 401–409 State Street
Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Industrial Heritage of Ellsworth, Volume III: Ellsworth Hardwood Company, c. 1907–1957
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
215 Water Street, Union River
Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
38 1/2 Main Street Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
A Factory Behind Main Street: The Industrial History of 38½ Main Street, Ellsworth, Maine, 1884–1907
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
$0.00
Knowlton Park 401–409 State Street
Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Industrial Heritage of Ellsworth, Volume II: B.E. Cole & Company Boot & Shoe Factory, c. 1889
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting
Echoes, Still Portfolios
Clocks, Cupolas, Towers Cotton, Woolens Grain, Leather, Pulp Facades Falls, Outlets, Rivers Empty Empires Exteriors Glass, Iron, Stone Interiors Machinery Murals Neighborhoods Renaissance Signature Portfolios
Millworks by County
Androscoggin Aroostook Cumberland Franklin Hancock Kennebec Knox Lincoln Oxford Penobscot Piscataquis Sagadahoc Somerset Waldo Washington York
Cobb Lime Company,c. 1884 Safe Harbor Yacht Club,c. 202?
60 Ocean Street
Rockland, Knox County, Maine
From the Echoes, Still: Maine's Industrial Remnants Collection (2024–2028)
Empty Empires Portfolio
Historical Narrative
Safe Harbor: From Rockland Slips to a Marine Ecosystem
Kevin LeDuc Pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta Rag Edition of 5 + 1 Artist’s Proof (A/P) + 1 Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) Portfolio of 40 Images
Paper Size: 35 × 50 inches Image Size: 30 × 45 inches Borders: Approximately 2 ½ inches (All Sides) Mounting: Archival hinge or float mounting