A Photo A Day
A Photo a Day
Until I leave Maine
Below are Polaroid Images I took the year I completed my M.F.A. from Maine College of Art. The select images below were shot from late 2007 to mid-2008. The goal was to take one image a day until I moved out of the state of Maine; a simple project to keep my mind active on photography. Thinking about this project roughly 16+ years later, the last line of my original statement - which is below - rings true, “this mission statement will change”.
At the time, it seemed like “doors were closing” in terms of job opportunities and my teaching career was not shaping up as I had pictured. The country was on the verge of an economic crisis and the city of Portland, Maine was affected by it. I was teaching at McIntosh College and The Cathedral School part time and I was working at the Downtown Lounge full time. Looking back, it was a difficult time financially but it was also a time of self-discovery and growth.
Original Statement
A Photo a Day
Until I leave Maine
December 9, 2007
I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to leave Maine for multiple reasons. As of now, I am not comfortable putting the reasons in print but if I have learned anything from writing a thesis, the reasons will reveal themselves through the artwork, through my journals about the artwork and in the mission statement in general. Until I pack my apartment and life in Portland, Maine, I’m going to take one photograph a day.
As a recent graduate of Maine College of Art’s MFA program, I am worried that my art practice is slipping without the comforts of a school environment. I’m hoping to push myself into my own studio practice with this project. I am also hoping to renew my own image, to become fresh with new ideas as a person, a friend, a lover and most importantly, as an artist.
There are no set rules to this project. I imagine most of the photographs will be self-portraits that discuss time, action or a feeling. I also imagine that this mission statement will change.
Sincerely,
Melanie Joanne Trecosta Fiander
