Logging the Northwoods
Maine has a logging tradition that reaches back 300 years. By as early as 1685, the Maine woods were being utilized by Great Britain for the tall, straight pines which made ideal masts for ships in the English Royal Navy.
Present-day logging practices cover the spectrum from a solitary woodsman using horses to pull logs out of the forest, to crews operating sophisticated hydraulic machinery that can clear timber at the rate of 200 trees per hour.
These photographs are from two different logging outfits, both in Porter, Maine. One was a small operation, consisting of Lester Norton Jr., and his brother Glen, that uses a cable skidder and chainsaws to take logs selectively from the forest. The other was a larger operation run by R.C. McLucas, which uses larger equipment and is capable of delivering several truckloads of logs per day to the mill.
My technique involves shooting film with a plastic Diana Camera, from the 1960's.
click on image to enlarge
