BEST OF SHOW – Winter Fox by Mike Cullivan.

Dog Walker, by Caroline Samson, Took First Place in the Black & White Category.

“Overcome” by Nancy Greindl, Won First Place in the Documentary Category.

June Rose, 80, is the Manager of the Gallery, 1 Townsend Avenue, Boothbay Harbor. (June, Whose Middle Name is Petunia, is Also a Local Musician)

The First Place Award in Color Went to Stephen Fabricius’ Dead Viel.

June Rose, manager of the annual Maine Photography Show,  said yesterday that tourism in Boothbay Harbor is down by at least 50% and most likely more than that.  Several other business owners in the area agreed with that estimation.

People are not traveling because of the pandemic that has crippled the state’s usually robust tourism season that begins following Memorial Day.

Maine is not considered a “hot spot” as is its neighboring Massachusetts. Perhaps that is because of a 14-day quarantine for those entering the state as well as residents practicing good anti-pandemic habits.

The annual Show usually starts the first week of April and runs for one month.  But due to restrictions in place because of the pandemic, it was put off until May 31st this year and will continue until June 20th according to Rose, manager of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation Gallery where The Maine Photography Show is now in its fourteenth year.  The address is 1 Townsend Avenue, Boothbay Harbor.

This year there were 700 entries into the Show.  There is an entry fee of $10.00.  Only Maine residents or those who own property in Maine can enter.  About 100 were selected to be in this year’s show.  In addition, to the Best in Show award, there are three categories for competitors.  They are:  black and white, color and a special theme each year.  This year’s special theme is documentary.

A special section – In Memoriam – is dedicated in the 2020 Exhibition Catalog to the late Steven R. Dunn, who “died suddenly of a heart attack in August 2019.”  Bruce Burnham, Chairman, of the Foundation remembered him as an “accomplished fine arts photographer and a charter member of the Maine Photography Show……He was always cheerful, upbeat and hard-working – a person of character and integrity who earned the respect of all who knew him.  We will miss his contributions to our committee, his wonderful sense of humor, his warmth and his generosity.”

The juror for the 2020 Show is Gregory Rec, a Maine professional photographer. Of the Best of Show photograph, Rec wrote in the catalog:  “For me, a Best in Show image is the photo in a contest that you keep returning to because you want to see it again and again, even when you might be in the middle of judging another category.  Winter Fox is that image for me – I kept calling it up in the web browser to stare at it for awhile.  It completely captivated me…”

Admission is free.

“We are the tourists now,” said a man who was visiting Boothbay Harbor with his wife, from Farmington, outside the Art Gallery.

For more information on the show, please go to boothbayartists.org, email: or email boothbay artists@gmail.com or call (207) 633-2703.