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FRYEBURG — Sumner McKane presents his live, multimedia “docu-exhibit,” ‘The Maine Frontier: Through the Lens of Isaac Walton Simpson “at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center.

“The Maine Frontier” combines the never-before-seen photography of Isaac Simpson with archived and current film, oral histories, and a compelling musical score. The film is an illustration of family, work, community, and culture in northern Maine at the turn-of-the-century. It investigates the geographical circumstances of a region virtually disconnected from the rest of the state and country. Life in this isolated region often led to struggle and tragedy, and demanded persistent hard work – evident on the faces and in the environment of Simpson’s subjects. The film is centered around a collection of over 1,500 photos taken by Isaac Simpson: photographer, blacksmith, barber, musician, woodsman, mechanic, and father of 13. Isaac, his wife Effie, and their friends and family, exemplify the character, necessities, and unique condition of the turn-of-the-century northern Mainer.

Simpson’s occupational skills brought him to logging camps deep in the woods, and to the farms in the far reaches of the Maine frontier. Wherever he traveled he carried his box camera and glass plate of negatives, and captured photos of everyone and everything along his way. He established relationships with his subjects, and a “he’s one of us” understanding made his images genuinely representational of the region’s foundational culture. He used his camera without social, political or gender bias, which resulted in his collection of images becoming a quintessential photographic social history of northern Maine.

By unearthing archived film, photography and oral histories, and combining them with a contemporary and original musical score, “The Maine Frontier” sheds new light on the isolated culture and region at a pivotal time in northern Maine’s history.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Order tickets online at www.fryeburgacademy.org/tickets or by calling the box office at 207-935-9232. The LHE/PAC is located at 18 Bradley St. in Fryeburg.

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