Places Volume 5
On Assignment with conservation photographer Jerry Monkman.
On Assignment with conservation photographer Jerry Monkman.
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PLACES
On Assignment with Jerry Monkman
THE MERRIMACK:
RIVER AT RISK
Putting a spotlight on one of
America’s most endangered rivers.
CONSERVATION PHOTO
PROJECTS
Forests, farms, fires and more
from across the Northeast.
MAINE TOURISM SHOOTS
Headin’ upta camp.
Sunset at Square Lake in Maine’s Aroostook County.
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From Jerry
I was just a week away from sending out this edition of Places when the
Covid-19 pandemic changed all of our lives in so many ways. In my house,
that meant the return of a college freshman and learning how to live
together as a family of four again – a minor change that I’m grateful for! I
hope you and your family are experiencing relatively mild impacts as well.
On the Cover: Dawn breaks in New
Hampshire’s Great Bay.
During the last few months, we’ve all been itching to get out of the house
whenever we get the chance to do it safely. In the best-case scenario that
means being able to walk, run, or hike in a park or forest close to home.
For me, the pandemic has reinforced the need for there to be a variety
of conserved open space in all communities. The majority of my career
has been spent working with non-profits to publicize land conservation
projects throughout the northeastern US, and in these times, I am
even more impressed with the amazing work these organizations have
accomplished over the last three decades. Many of the photos on the
following pages show how this work continues.
Be well, stay safe, and enjoy the outdoors!
-Jerry
Table of Contents
The Merrimack: River at Risk................................................................................4-5
Putting a spotlight on one of America’s most endangered rivers.
Conservation Photo Projects............................................................................... 6-21
Forests, farms, fires and more from across the Northeast.
Maine Tourism Shoots........................................................................................22-26
An award-winning "Headin’ upta camp" marketing project.
P.O. Box 59, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03802
603-498-1140
jerry@ecophotography.com
www.ecophotography.com
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Film
NH & MA
The Merrimack:
River at Risk
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Feature-length documentary to be
released this summer
The Merrimack River is the birthplace
of the industrial revolution
in America. Factories in cities like
Manchester, New Hampshire and
Lowell, Massachusetts were the
largest textile mills in the world in
the 19th century. Like many rivers in
America, the Merrimack was heavily
polluted by the 1960’s, but due to the
Clean Water Act, the Merrimack has
been cleaned up considerably since
then. Remarkably, more than 80%
of the Merrimack watershed is still
undeveloped and largely forested,
yet in 2016 the river was named
one of the most endangered rivers
in the US by American Rivers. Since
then, I have been working with the
Society for the Protection of New
Hampshire Forests to produce a
film that tells the Merrimack’s
story and explains why the river is
in trouble today. Almost four years
later, we have finished that film –
The Merrimack: River at Risk. The
pandemic has shuttered our plans
for theater screenings for the time
being, but I’m proud to announce
the film’s broadcast premier will be
on July 23rd when it will air on New
Hampshire PBS.
https://ecophotography.com/a-new-film-the-merrimack-river-at-risk/
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Conservation
NEW ENGLAND
Conservation Photo
Projects
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Forests, farms, fires and
more from across the
Northeast
Two and a half years ago, I produced a video for
the Harvard Forest that introduces people to their
conservation vision for the Northeastern US called
“Wildlands and Woodlands.” (You can see that
video and others on my site here: https://archive.
ecophotography.com/video.) Their vision makes the
case that we can still conserve 70% of our land as
forests and 7% as farms, while also sustaining vibrant
communities. Forests provide wood products and
jobs, clean the air, and provide clean drinking water.
And it’s possible to feed most of the region with that
7% of farmland. Many of the photos I’m asked to shoot
are for forest and farm conservation projects, and I
love visiting and shooting in places that most people
have never seen. Over the next several pages, I share
photos of forests and farms, fires and scientists, and
a little solar power.
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Battenkill River sunrise, Shushan, NY.
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Hiking on land conserved by
The Conservation Fund in
southern Vermont.
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Exploring the newly created Bethel Community Forest in Bethel, Maine.
Forest in western Maine in the path of a proposed transmission line.
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Mountain biking on new conservation land in southern New Hampshire.
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Farms
I’ve shot farm conservation projects across New
England, from northwestern Connecticut to central
Maine. In the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough
to work close to home for the Southeast Land Trust of
NH on several forest projects as well as some of their
projects conserving local farmland. Many of the farms
are places that I buy veggies from at our local farmer’s
market every Saturday in the summer. I love being
asked to work these farms, and I really enjoy being able
to envision the land where my food was grown while
sitting down with family and friends for a meal. And
now these farms will remain farmland in the future.
It’s also nice to work on projects where I can sleep in my
own bed at home!
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Above left: Three women process a
beet harvest in South Hampton, NH.
Above right: A young man feeds
his calves at a dairy farm in New
Hampshire.
Middle and below right: Kinney
Hill Farm in South Hampton, New
Hampshire.
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Women harvest kale in South Hampton, New Hampshire on
land recently conserved by the Southeast Land Trust of NH.
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Prescribed Burn
In September, The Nature Conservancy asked me to
photograph a prescribed burn on one of their grassland
preserves in Maine. Grasslands are less common
in Maine than they used to be, not only because of
development, but because they tend to revert to forests
if they aren’t burned every few years. This community
provides nesting habitat for several rare ground nesting
grassland birds including the grasshopper sparrow,
upland sandpiper, and short-eared owl. These open
grasslands also provide excellent habitat for a rare
snake, the northern black racer. I was very impressed
with the Nature Conservancy staff’s attention to detail
and ability to safely complete this burn exactly as
planned.
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Solar Panel
Installations
It was great to have the opportunity
to shoot a couple of solar panel
installations as part of a project for
the Barr Foundation. The industry
is booming, providing excellent
jobs and affordable, carbon-free
electricity that is a key part in our
efforts to stem the effects of climate
change.
20 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY SPRING 2020
Manomet
I’ve had a blast shooting primarily
video projects for Manomet during
the last two years as we work on
telling their story of using science
and partnering with business to
foster a sustainable world. Manomet
applies conservation science to
industries that impact all of us:
forestry, commercial fisheries, and
agriculture. The organization got
its start 50 years ago conducting
bird research and that’s still a big
part of their work (and really fun to
shoot!) They have one of the longest
continuously run land bird banding
stations in the world, and they are
leaders in the study of shorebirds
in the western hemisphere (like this
whimbrel being outfitted with a
GPS transmitter in the back seat of
a Toyota.)
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 21
Recreation
MAINE
Maine Tourism
Shoots
Headin’ upta camp
Over the course of my 20+ year career, I have been to
so many places in the state of Maine, from Portland and
the south coast near my home in Portsmouth, NH, to the
western mountains and the Appalachian Trail, to one of
my all-time favorite places, Acadia National Park. When
I was asked to shoot in the Deboullie Public Reserve Land,
I was surprised that I had never even heard of the place.
And then once I arrived, I was even more surprised. The
ponds, cliffs, mountains, and forest are classic Maine
wilderness, home to bears and moose, great hiking,
hunting, camping, and paddling, and a classic Maine
wilderness lodge (Red River Camps) to use as a base to
explore it all. My work on this project with Thalo Blue
Destination Marketing, and Aroostook County Tourism
received the 2020 Maine Tourism Marketing and
Promotion Award. A video about the collaboration can
be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/420535493.
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facebook.com/ecophotography
twitter.com/jerrymonkman
linkedin.com/in/jerrymonkman
instagram.com/jerrymonkman
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P.O. Box 59
Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03802
603-498-1140
jerry@ecophotography.com
www.ecophotography.com