Tom McLaughlin
PHOTOGRAPHY
There’s beauty almost everywhere and my camera sometimes lets me take away part of it. If a feeling comes with what I’m seeing, I put the camera to my face and shoot. This has occupied me ever since I found a red, plastic box camera with my name on it under the Christmas tree when I was ten. In 1971, my lovely wife gave me a much better one we couldn’t really afford. With that I learned to capture more of the loveliness around me. My photos were for myself, my family, and friends until a local hospital wanted to buy some. Now they hang in health care facilities around Maine. My most treasured images are of people I love and not for sale. Others of Maine’s lakes, mountains, and coastline occasionally kindle some of the feeling I had in others who see them.
For decades, I taught history and still publish a weekly column in Maine and New Hampshire newspapers about whatever is on my mind. My wife and I split our time between Lovell and South Portland, Maine each week and travel when we can, especially to Ireland and the Mediterranean.