BELFAST — A new photography exhibit by the Zoom Lens Group opened January 6, 2022, at the H. Allen and Sally Fernald Art Gallery at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast. The show, on display through March, is free and open to the public Monday – Friday, from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. 

The Zoom Lens Group began meeting virtually in January 2021 via Zoom. Two founding members, Ed Lajoie and Penny Linn, had long tossed around the idea of starting a photography group. The pandemic offered a unique opportunity to get the group started.

“While the name of the group (Zoom Lens) references a piece of photo equipment, it’s more a tribute to Zoom, the now ubiquitous online platform that allowed the group to form and flourish during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the group, in a news release.

The group’s five members — two educators, a database manager, a graphic artist and an emergency room doctor — found reprieve from pandemic isolation by connecting via their photography. Together, they shared and critiqued photographs, and demonstrated and discussed theories and skills to further develop their craft.

The exhibition features work by Doug Chamberlin, John Gage, Ed Lajoie, Penny Linn and Vera Morrison, who passed away in October following an automobile accident.

For information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Abby Spooner, hutchinsoncenter@maine.edu.

More information about the Hutchinson Center’s Fernald Art Gallery and the Zoom Lens Group artists is online.

About the Hutchinson Center:

The Hutchinson Center is an outreach center for the University of Maine in Orono that serves as an educational and cultural center for the midcoast area. It is named for University of Maine President Emeritus Frederick E. Hutchinson. The mission of the Hutchinson Center is to broaden access to University of Maine academic and non-degree programs and services, lifelong learning opportunities, and professional and career development experiences using innovative approaches that increase synergy among University of Maine System entities, University of Maine departments and divisions, and that engage a wider Maine community. 

About the University of Maine:

The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state's land grant, sea grant and space grant university, with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. UMaine is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation. UMaine Machias is located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation. As Maine's flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is the state's only public research university and among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast. It attracts students from all 50 states and 81 countries. UMaine currently enrolls 11,989 undergraduate and graduate students, and UMaine Machias enrolls 747 undergraduates. Our students have opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research with world-class scholars. UMaine offers more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn master's, doctoral or professional science master's degrees, as well as graduate certificates. UMaine Machias offers 18 degree programs. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide to conserve energy, recycle and adhere to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu and machias.edu.