Above the Fold: Every Picture Tells the Story

HistoryArt

Feb 17

February 17, 2024

By Bing McGilvray

“Above the Fold: The Photographers of the Gloucester Daily Times,” is on view at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester through March 17, 2023.

Gloucester resident John Giglio connects with a dramatic storm photo by Cristin Gisler at the entrance of *Above the Fold* at the Cape Ann Museum. Photo © Bing McGilvray.

Above the Fold is a landmark exhibition. Over 200 Gloucester Daily Times photographs, from 1973 – 2005, are now on dazzling display at the Cape Ann Museum. These photos were carefully selected from the over 1 million that were donated to the CAM Archives by the North of Boston Media Group, the current owners of the paper. You have until March 17 to see them. After that, they go back to the vault. Do yourself a favor, don’t miss it.

*Above the Fold* curators Trenton Carls, *Head Librarian and Archivist* and Maegan Squibb, *Photo Archivist* at CAM Archives. Photos © Paul Cary Goldberg.

Expertly curated by Trenton Carls, Head Librarian and Archivist, and Maegan Squibb, Photo Archivist, Above the Fold exemplifies what a vital museum archive is supposed to do; put on a show that’s scholarly, well researched and FUN. Walk through this visual time machine and the clock has been set back 50 years. Every picture tells the story, as they were originally meant to. Such was the job of the photojournalist: report what happened by encapsulating the moment in a single shot. Be the ‘eye-witness’ with the graphic punch that catches the reader’s eye immediately. No simple task. These photo-reporters were and continue to be consummate professionals. Every photo here is a home run. Taken together, something monumental comes into focus. We begin to see the Big Picture: who we were, how we got to where we are now, and how radically different things will be in the immediate future. Above the Fold is operating on many levels at once. A Grand Slam.

Above the Fold is an amusement ride for people who like to think ... about Gloucester, history, photography, art, journalism, technology, the passage of time ... and recognize something of our shared experience in a parade of pictures. You may see yourself or your neighbors. Perhaps you will feel a sense of nostalgia. Certainly, your memories will be aroused. There is so much going on here. Truly, something for everyone. Above the Fold is about life itself. Isn’t that why any museum’s doors are open?

By focusing on the Local, you can speak of the Universal. Charles Olson knew this. Old Maximus was much on my mind as I explored this show. Questions raised; deeper meanings revealed. I’ve visited several times and find myself slipping into a stimulating, meditative state, considering a multiplicity of implications. Often, I have been in the company of my friend Paul Cary Goldberg, an exquisitely gifted photographer, a serious pro with a poet’s soul. There is no better guide. Paul was an essential element in the preparation of Above the Fold. Paraphrasing his own words, he ‘carefully cleaned up the scanned files by removing scratches and dust, adjusted the tones, exposure values, shadows and highlights, made color corrections, sizing, cropping ... so that each image had detail, dimension, aesthetic balance, beauty.’ He then printed 150 photos. With the help of volunteers, Paul matted and framed the prints.

Photographers of the Gloucester Daily Times, 1973-2005, top to bottom, left to right): Charles Lowe, Jim Mahoney, Kenn Shrader, Mitch Eagan, Amy Sweeny, Cristin Gisler, Paul Bilodeau, Desi Smith, Josh Reynolds, Mike Dean, Jessica Murray, Mary Roy, Jackie Bennett, Sally O’Maley, Bart Piscitello.

Ultimately, Above the Fold is a celebration of the individual photographers, and you can see a selection of their work below. 150 photos are by GDT staff photographers, the remaining 60 are by ‘stringers’, who came into the game when a growing number of camera buffs began taking competent pictures. Easy to use cameras were becoming ubiquitous. By the ‘Perfect Storm’ in 1991, everyone in the newsroom was sent out to get pictures. Digital was still a few years off. The images taken by professionals are the ones that stand out though. Viewing a selection online does not do justice to their artistry, which is photojournalism at its best. Browsing the internet cannot compare with viewing this roomful of 200 amazing, high-quality images, intelligently juxtaposed on the walls. Anything less is a mere tease.

Paul Cary Goldberg, in his element. Photo © Bing McGilvray

Mounting this superb show was a labor of love, and it shows. Paul has nothing but praise for Trenton, who orchestrated the CAM Archives team like a symphony conductor. Maegan deftly coordinated the dedicated crew of assistants. A lot of blood, sweat, tears and exhilaration went into this exhibition. As a result, they have given the city a great gift. As Boston Globe reporter Mark Feeney noted, Above the Fold is a ‘love letter’ to Gloucester. To complement the photos, several encased collections of cameras, lenses, light meters, contact sheets, darkroom equipment and other ephemera of a bygone era are on display to demonstrate that photography was once a complex technical craft that required skill and mastery. That era begins to shift with the dawn of digital photos and now everyone is a photographer, no talent necessary. Younger visitors may encounter their first roll of film and wonder ‘how did that work’?

[1] Above the Fold being installed just days before the exhibit opened at CAM. Photo © Paul Cary Goldberg.

[2] Stan Roberts digs clams off Essex Avenue in a flat on the Annisquam River, 1982. Photograph by Jim Mahoney.

[3] Bailey, a 3-year-old Shephard and Border Collie mix, appears to have human abilities, but really his owner Dave White is the driver of this ATC and heads back home on Becker Circle, May 9, 2004. Photograph by Desi Smith.

[4] Joe Garland, in the water, and boatwright Larry Dahlmer try unsuccessfully to save Garland's Cruising Club which was wrecked on the Eastern Point rocks in 1980. The Cruising Club was the last boat owned by Gloucester's most famous solo sailor, Howard Blackburn, October 26, 1980. Photograph by Charlie Lowe.

[5] Goalie Alison Demeule, an incoming Gloucester High School freshman, faces shots from fellow campers this week at the Fishermen Girls Hockey School at Dorothy Talbot Rink, June 12, 2003. Photograph by Mike Dean.

[6] A float honors the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, July 7, 1986. Photograph by Amy Sweeney.

[7] A car travels along snow-covered Prospect Street in Gloucester this morning, 1984. Photograph by Kenn Shrader.

Personally, Above the Fold is very dear to me. I spent seven happy years volunteering in the CAM Archives. I think of it as my Alma Mater. Stephanie and Fred Buck were the Trenton and Maegan of those days. Fred is gone six years now, but Stephanie still volunteers and has her own room in the show; a collection of original front pages from Cape Ann’s earliest newspapers dating back to the mid-19th century. ‘Stephanie’s Room’ proves she has not lost her touch.

One opportunity seems to have been missed here. There is no catalog for the show. Books, catalogs, personal papers, and these stunning photographs are primary documents. They don’t need electricity to be viewed, referenced, researched, displayed, and cannot be altered by computers or AI. The mad rush into digitization, by libraries and other institutions, is like tossing the baby out with the bathwater. In time, indeed very soon, primary documents will be as valuable as paintings and the CAM Archives is the guardian of a vast treasure trove. A future conversation looms ominously. For now though, I offer a very positive public service announcement,

See Above the Fold! You will thank the COSMOS you did. Like the Gloucester of old, the show will be gone before you know it.

Photo captions for slideshow: [1] Above the Fold being installed just days before the exhibit opened at CAM; [2] Stan Roberts digs clams off Essex Avenue in a flat on the Annisquam River, 1982. Photograph by Jim Mahoney; [3] Bailey, a 3-year-old Shephard and Border Collie mix, appears to have human abilities, but really his owner Dave White is the driver of this ATC and heads back home on Becker Circle, May 9, 2004. Photograph by Desi Smith; [4] Joe Garland, in the water, and boatwright Larry Dahlmer try unsuccessfully to save Garland's Cruising Club which was wrecked on the Eastern Point rocks in 1980. The Cruising Club was the last boat owned by Gloucester's most famous solo sailor, Howard Blackburn, October 26, 1980. Photograph by Charlie Lowe; [5] Goalie Alison Demeule, an incoming Gloucester High School freshman, faces shots from fellow campers this week at the Fishermen Girls Hockey School at Dorothy Talbot Rink, June 12, 2003. Photograph by Mike Dean. [6] A float honors the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, July 7, 1986. Photograph by Amy Sweeney; [7] A car travels along snow-covered Prospect Street in Gloucester this morning, 1984. Photograph by Kenn Shrader.

Photo credits: [1] Paul Cary Goldberg; [2-7] Gloucester Daily Times Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives, Gloucester, MA. Gift of the North of Boston Media Group/Gloucester Daily Times, 2021 [Acc. #2021.021].

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