The primary (and best) reason to digitize museum collections is to share them with the public on the web. PMM’s photo archives staff has been hard at work for the past year getting to know Kosti Ruohomaa’s photographs through this process. Since he worked under the umbrella of a photo agency for most of his life (Black Star Publishing in Manhattan), the collection is most meaningfully grouped by his professional assignments: those he was given and those he conceived himself and pitched to them. It’s interesting to observe that many of the “self-assignments” were studies of particular aesthetic and cultural themes which the photographer circled back to repeatedly throughout his career.
Beginning in January of 2021, we’ll use this page to showcase a few new assignments each month. Please check back here to further explore the captivating work of this iconic Maine talent. Click on any of the thumbnails below to open that group of images in our online database.
Dodge Mountain
In 1924, when Kosti Ruohomaa was a child, his family moved to Dodge Mountain in Rockland, Maine, where they’d purchased a hillside farm.
Maine Fish Dragger
In July of 1957, Ruohomaa went on a 10-day voyage to the Grand Banks on the Quincy, a steel hulled, deep sea commercial trawler, which was skippered by Jim Farrell of Rockland.
Sardine Fishing
Kosti Ruohomaa documented the herring fishery from every angle over a number of years including 1953, 1957, 1958, and 1960. He photographed the boats, fishermen, and the Herculean trawl nets.
Lobster Price Fixing
In 1957 the price of lobsters dropped to 30 cents a pound, barely covering the expenses for lobstermen of keeping a boat and gear. The fishermen, who organized under the recently-formed Maine Lobstermen’s Association, decided to put the screws to the buyers.
Andrew Wyeth
Ruohomaa met American realist painter Andrew Wyeth in 1947 through their mutual acquaintance, the sculptor George Curtis. The two enjoyed a long friendship and had a few eccentric adventures.
Pool Room
By the early 20th century, pool halls had become hugely popular in the US and other countries, and their ubiquity was not limited to urban areas.
Maine Winter
Less than a year after Kosti had his first photo featured on the cover of a Life issue, he was already suggesting ideas to Life’s photo editor Wilson Hicks.
Maine Political Meeting: Governor Muskie
Ruohomaa attended a dinner meeting of Maine democrats sometime in the 1950s to photograph some distinguished speakers, most notably Governor Ed Muskie. Muskie was born in Rumford, Maine in 1914.
Harp Colony
Carlos Salzedo founded the Summer Harp Colony of America in 1929; under this name, he offered intensive, world-class training to aspiring young harpists out of his home on Marine Avenue in Camden, Maine.
Maine Country School
Mildred Gould taught the eighteen students in this mixed age classroom, all of whom lived within two miles of the Rockville, Maine school. Gould embraced this educational model for the earlier grades.