Peter Ralston • Blue Raven Gallery

Sep 19

Artist Bio

Peter Ralston grew up in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania, worked for a decade as a freelance photojournalist, and then began photographing the coast of Maine in 1978, drawn especially to the working communities that define the coast’s enduring character.

Instrumental in forming the Island Institute in 1983, Peter Ralston served as its executive vice-president until 2010. Until then he contributed most of the photography and served as art director for the Institute's Island Journal since its inception. He continues to spend as much time as he possibly can on and around islands.

His work has been reproduced in many books and magazines, featured repeatedly on network television and has been exhibited in galleries, collections and museums throughout the United States and abroad.

In 2003 Peter was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree at Colby College for his photography as well as his role as co-founder of the Island Institute.

Artist Statement

“My photographs are my statement. I don’t pretend or aspire to be cleverly intellectual about what I do. I just poke around the nooks and crannies of this coast, always with my camera. As far as I’m concerned, I’m storytelling, albeit straight from the heart. These are the places I’ve been and people I’ve met, and sometimes there’s metaphors not far beneath the surface.”