LEWISTON – David W. Kidder of Lewiston is the featured artist of the month at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center Visiting Artist’s Gallery during July.

Kidder was raised in Lewiston and educated in Lewiston public schools. Following graduation he moved to Boston to pursue a career in broadcasting. During summer breaks he worked for WCOU in Lewiston as an announcer.

After obtaining an associate degree in communications, he entered active duty for two years in the Navy and settled in South Easton, Mass. During that time he finished his bachelor of arts degree in communications and rekindled his love of photography, which had enticed him during his pre-teen years. It is still a driving force in his life today.

Upon returning from Louisiana in 2000 Kidder began to take his work more seriously, starting a landscape photography business called “Outside My Window.”

By hiking the back trails of New England, Kidder enjoys bringing the viewer new and different landscapes. Some of his scenes arc familiar, but most are off the beaten path. Those who have influenced the self-taught photographer include Ansel Adams, Boyd Norton and Terrell S. Lester.

By freezing a moment in time, he hopes to convey to the viewer how much sometimes “taken-for-granted” beauty there is all around.

He has exhibited his works at Local 567, IBEW, Union Hall in Lewiston, the River Restaurant in West Paris, Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, Central Maine Medical Center and Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Lewiston.

Kidder has traveled extensively in Europe; lived in Texas, Louisiana. Massachusetts and St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies. All have had an influence on his photography. He will admit that there is no place like Maine, unsurpassed for its rugged coastline dotted with picturesque lighthouses.

For information regarding exhibiting at St. Mary’s gallery call Vyonne Spaar, gallery coordinator, at 784-5323.