Living by the Sea


Growing up in northern Pennsylvania, I never thought I’d live by the sea. Even as an adult in Washington, DC, the idea of one day truly living in a seaside town seemed like a miniscule possibility. 


But, as usual, life had other plans, and as of this August I’ll have been a full-time resident of Provincetown more or less for seven years (let’s ignore the first two months of 2020, when I was in an AirBnB in NYC thinking I was making a transition to full-time residency there).


Living by the ocean has many perks for a photographer–and especially one who loves to be outside, regardless of the weather or time of year. One of the most frequently asked questions I get when I tell someone I live in Provincetown is, “Even in the winter?” They are shocked when I say yes, and then ever more so when I say that January is one of my favorite months here!


One of the best things about such a life is being able to hang out and shoot on MacMillan Pier, which is where Provincetown’s commercial fishing fleet docks and unloads the freshest of seafood, which I am lucky to eat on a regular basis. Fishing is still very dangerous work. Earlier this month, the Fishing Vessel Yankee Rose, a scallop boat, capsized off the Provincetown coast, killing the two men on board.


MacMillan Pier is also where other commercial vessels are docked, including seasonal things like the passenger ferries and whale watches.


(By the way, the pier is named for Rear Admiral Donald MacMillan, who was born in and lived in Provincetown. In the first half of the Twentieth Century, he made 30 trips to the Arctic, which is mind-boggling to someone who sometimes struggles kayaking a couple of miles to Long Point!)


If I ever feel uninspired with photography (which is rare, but it does happen), I go to MacMillan. There is always something to shoot, whether interesting waves, boats, people, or skies. It’s a great place to get both sunrise and sunset photos, given the weird way the tip of the Cape corkscrews into itself.


And it’s a great place for me to practice my abstract motion-based photography, which I continue to work on for my Expressions cohort. 


Here are some mostly recent shots of scenes on and around MacMillan Pier, including some of the abstract work. As always, I hope you enjoy it.


Be well!