Kerr+Jones Gallery in East Boothbay was the destination of friends and fans of photographer Peter Ralston for the Aug. 19 reception celebrating his latest book of photos from 2003 onward, “Going Deep In Time,” each accompanied by Ralston’s stories/commentary. A copy of the book was open for perusal, and it was a true page-turner by everyone at some time or other that night.

This ongoing show includes framed photographs of varying sizes adorning some wall space, and a collection of prints, framed and unframed, were also available. One photo and print at the gallery, is entitled, “Pentecost,” an image of 16 sheep being transported on a skiff circa 1980.

Pre-story background: Ralston grew up in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania on part of an old Quaker mill property his parents bought in 1957. The very next year, Andrew and Betsy Wyeth bought the rest of that property and so the families became friends as well as neighbors. Every summer, the Wyeths went to Maine. Ralston can still see the new paintings falling out of the back of Andrew’s jeep, and the stories. “They jacked me up with these stories of pirate fishermen and trap wars,” said Ralston. “With my child's overactive imagination, mind's eye, I was, yeah ... enthralled.”

How could you not be?

And now back to 1978 when the Wyeths brought him to Maine. Shared Peter at the event: "They said you're a great photographer, you've done journalistic stuff (I was working as a photojournalist), but they saw me like a (slight pause)  flat rock skipping across the pond, you know, fast, but no depth. And this is Andy who had painted for over 40 years at the Olsen House or the Kerner Farm … or you know whatever. There was nothing other than going deep in his life. I remember riding around with Andrew being introduced to people and places I’d grown up seeing in his paintings. And, by day four, I knew this was it ..."

Now back to "Pentecost": Betsy Wyeth bought two islands in that year, Southern Island (near Tenants Harbor) and Allen Island. To help keep the vegetation down, and to make the islands less susceptible to fire, Mrs. Wyeth bought 16 sheep.

“We dropped two on Southern Island, and we were on our way from Tenants Harbor, (to bring the sheep) out to Allen Island, to basically, be lawnmowers,” Ralston said. “I had taken Betsy's center console on a sort of GoFast boat and that's how I made the pictures. I mean, it's like moving a tripod. The boats are a tripod for me, and I can get them exactly where they need to be.”

It should be noted here that "Pentecost" has a place on Down East magazine's list of the most iconic of and from Maine. Make that the #1 iconic image in the magazine's January 2017 publication.

Ralston spoke about what the bottom line of “Going Deep In Time” might be: Community, particularly Maine’s offshore islands, like out Matinicus way. "The ones that are really out there have a lot of lessons for the country, and I think the world, particularly today,” he said. “Whatever differences there may be, if their kid is sick, or somebody comes down with a terrible illness, or the boat breaks down, or the truck breaks down, or whatever. You're there to help because that's what you do."

Peter said there are two defining characteristics on the coast of Maine: The first is the beauty and the second, the light. The light that has been drawing artists here since, what, the 19th century? 

"And," emphasized the artist (yes, photography is an art form), "it's the spirit of community. I think we all know there's something really special here, and there are many, many, I mean, God knows there are a lot of beautiful places in the world. But, yeah, beat this.”

Autographed copies of Peter Ralston’s “Going Deep In Time,” featuring 175 photographs, are available to buy at Kerr+Jones (268 Ocean Point Road/Route 96). Checks preferred for payment to The Ralston Gallery.