“Foiling,” Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables series, 2020, by Justin Kirchoff.

In response to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and local closings, the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts in Portland began creating the online series MMPA Antidote, which includes photographic artwork, audio interviews, and artist statements and reflections from Maine artists, aimed to serve as inspiration during times of isolation.

Published bi-weekly, Antidote features contemporary photographers and interviews with industry experts.

The current issue features work by Justin Kirchoff.

In his own words:

“This new series of images are culled down in an attempt to distill my interest in landscape, portraiture and domestic imagery. They were created with little intention beyond the impulse or need to photograph during a time of isolation. The imagery may seem disparate in a traditional sense, but my interest is in drawing conceptual connections between building exteriors to domestic scenes. My daughter, weighing high school graduation, her future and her new discovery of protesting cultural injustices. My oldest friend, navigating a divorce, his father moving into a nursing home and the moral hangover of a freshly stitched gash on his forehead, a manifestation of his struggle with the stress of his life. My hope is the imagery will have enough connective tissue between them, allowing the viewer to link ideas about the human condition, and drawing connections between portraiture, the landscape and even the back left corner of a refrigerator.”

Visit www.mainemuseumofphotographicarts.org to view the most recent issue. Investigate the links, share the images, and send some of your own to contact.mmpa@gmail.com.