Perverse Umbrella Covers and Charitable Bunny Butts; or A Journey to Peaks Island
Peaks is a little island in Maine. It is accessible by ferry from Portland's Old Port. I shot a really fun wedding there last year, which would have been memorable just because of the good vibes and ferry rides. What really made this wedding stand out was that it was emceed by the world famous Thorgy Thor from Rupaul's Drag Race.
Thorgy not only hosted and performed, but she is also a classically trained violinist and performed the processional and recessional during the ceremony on a 300+ year old violin.
The wedding was at The Fifth Maine Museum, but they didn't allow anyone inside the museum so the ceremony was in the back yard, the reception was on the wrap-around patio, and Thorgy's green room was a small cafeteria room in the back. They told me I had to store my gear in the cafeteria as well so I went to introduce myself to Thorgy to tell her that I would be keeping my stuff in her green room. "Hi, my name is Andrew, I'm the photographer today..." She interrupted me saying "Right, so you'll be the one sticking a camera in my fucking face all night, great." It was awesome.
The wedding was a blast and I was able to do an extended portrait session with the two grooms, who golf-carted me around the island to find some nice, hidden away spots.
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This past weekend I had my first of three Peaks weddings this season. The couple was generous enough to rent a golf cart for me and my second shooter Julien, who shot with me at the wedding the previous year too. We are the new Island Boys, lol.
Peak's Island weddings are fun but are also kind of a hassle because there is so much extra planning with ferry schedules, all day parking in Portland, and getting around on the island. I always end up getting to the island really early in case I encounter any hiccups. This time we showed up about 6 hours before the ceremony started so there was A LOT of downtime. The couple getting married suggested an early ferry to be safe and once we got there they were like "Whoops, sorry, we don't really need you yet," so we set off to explore on our golf cart stallion.
We scouted some locations for the portrait session later in the day and then went to explore the main commercial strip. We happened upon something I had just heard about on NPR, The Umbrella Cover Museum. This museum/art project(?) has gained some national attention lately.
The founder, Nancy 3. Hoffman opened the museum as "a celebration of mundane." She is a unique character. She is a member of a Klezmer band. The museum doesn't have any umbrellas, just the sheaths that most umbrellas come with that either get lost or remain after the accompanying umbrella is lost. Nancy 3. wasn't there when we visited but there was a woman working with her son. She was a unique character in her own right. She had pretty serious David Lynch vibes. I asked her what her favorite umbrella cover was and she said "Well, I cannot answer that question. What I CAN tell you is what Nancy 3. says whenever anyone asks her what her favorite is. Her favorite umbrella cover is her NEWEST umbrella cover. That's right, her newest acquisition is always her favorite!" I told her that we were photographers visiting the island to photograph a wedding. She perked up and said "Well, would you please allow me to ask you a rather forward and possibly inappropriate question?" I was very intrigued so of course I said yes. She asked if I would take some photos of the museum and include some of her son. Not at all an inappropriate question at all but yes, I was fine with it. Her son didn't seem very happy to be there. I think the photos turned out hilarious.
She asked me to send the photos to Nancy 3. so she could use them for promotional purposes and then gave me a ton of stuff from their merch area.
We were about to leave but the lady stopped me and asked "Would you like to see the adult section?" I said yes, and she led me to a locked closet. I opened the door and inside were more umbrella covers, none of which were inappropriate or "adult" in any way. I was very confused. She said "Look inside the box!" I saw two wooden boards attached with hinges on one side so I opened it up. Inside were more totally normal umbrella covers, and one that seemed to POSSIBLY be intentionally phallic, even though all umbrella covers are a little bit phallic looking anyway. I said "Wow, thanks" and left. It was so weird and unsettling. 5 stars, 100% would return.
When we had first gotten off the ferry I noticed a table swarmed with people at the corner of Island Ave and Welch Street with a sign above it that said "Bunny Raffle." I was riding high from the strange interaction we had at the museum so I really wanted to check out this bunny raffle. We rode the golf cart a block and a half down to the table and found out that it was a fundraiser for a children's center. There were baked goods and the raffle, which wasn't for real rabbits, but two adorable, crocheted bunny dolls with a homemade rocking chair. I had a pleasant chat with the woman who had made the bunnies and I entered the raffle, thinking that my kids would get a kick out of these cute little guys. I was about to leave when the nice woman, drawing a clear parallel to the museum woman said "Do you want to see the rabbit's underwear? I made her some nice underpants." I sighed and said yes, and asked if I could take a picture. She said, "Wait, look at the butt!" and showed me the rabbit's butt. What the hell Peaks Island, what is going on with you? Perverse and the mundane. It's a vibe.
I was exhausted, and the wedding hadn't even started yet. The rest of the day went off without a hitch. The wedding was fun and the ferry ride back was so windy I thought my gear bags were going to fly out into the water.
One last quirky thing about Peaks Island. It's a small island but it has a ton of wedding venues. On any given weekend there could be up to 8 weddings happening. At the end of the night the ferry is full of wedding guests and wedding vendors. Whenever I'm waiting for the ferry to take me back to Portland I chat with other photographers, caterers, djs, and band members. We compare notes and exchange business cards.
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I'll finish with a round-up of photos from around the island. Exited to go back a few more times this summer.
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Next week will bring some exciting new gear, a double maternity shoot (!), a White Mountain wedding, an engagement shoot at Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, and a Kennebunkport family portrait session. Next week's newsletter with either cover all of that or just be an extensive review of the Tilton, New Hampshire Holiday Inn Express.