Award-winning photographer Jeff Friesen has probably played with LEGOS a little too long; but in the end it has paid off. The Canadian dad and his 7-year-old daughter June, have playfully (and some say subversively) depicted each of the 50 United States in a LEGO scene that pokes at each state’s history and iconic stereotypes with his series, "The 50 States of LEGO."

In his Maine scene, two lobster fishermen with wool caps (and one dressed in Grundens) are standing on a dock. One man is captivated by a seagull while another playfully attempts to pinch him in the rear end with a red lobster. The caption reads: “If you find yourself in a pinch, just rub the swollen area with moxie.”

Okay, let’s discuss.

1. Lobstermen and Maine. Is that always the first thing that comes to people’s minds when they think of this state? If so, either the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative needs to get right on this or we better come up with something new to stereotype.

2. Lobstermen are not exactly captivated by seagulls. Annoyed, maybe, but not captivated and by the way, landlubbers, an uncooked lobster is not red.  (Seriously, I’ve heard people from away actually complain when they see live mottled green-brown lobsters in a tank that there “is something wrong with them.”)

3. Moxie should be a Proper Noun, because it’s not just a state of mind, it’s the love child cola born of Mr. Pibb and turpentine and it must be respected! But, Friesen gets points for alluding to the medicinal qualities of Moxie, nonetheless.

Friesen only uses official LEGO bricks and pieces to create his scenes and when Friesen responded back to us he said, “Being from Nova Scotia my knowledge of lobsters is fairly thorough...I have even eaten them raw. LEGO, however, doesn't make a live lobster substitute. Even the red one is actually used as a scorpion in LEGO world. Oh, well.”

Comparatively to the roasting other states got, Maine’s scene is pretty tame. Kinda cute, even. He is releasing a hard copy book of The 50 States of LEGO in September with 40 new, exclusive scenes and I’m told, one of them is a new scene of Maine, this time centered around Whoopie Pies.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com