Ron Rosenstock, “Milkweed Ballet.”

“Midsummer, Part 2” at New Era Gallery features work by Ron Rosenstock through Aug. 8.

In his artist’s statement, photographer Rosenstock says, “I am a missionary. My mission is to be one of the caretakers of our world. I will work at this mission by raising the awareness of as many people as possible. Awareness of how beautiful and important our planet is. It is a living-breathing organism.”

Ron Rosenstock

Rosenstock has spent many years traveling to and photographing the extraordinary places in the world and introducing others to those places and to that way of seeing through his small group photo tours. All of his work, whether of the macrocosmic landscape of the microscopic world, is based on that most heartfelt mission.

The current exhibition focuses on his ongoing project at his home in Massachusetts, where he and his wife Cathy have created a milkweed sanctuary to support Monarch butterflies in their migrations. His photographs of Milkweed in all of its stages of growth are astonishingly beautiful visual poems, each one an homage to this humble but critically important plant.

New Era Gallery is at 60 Main St., Vinalhaven. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday by appointment. Call 207-863-9351 or visit neweragallery.com for more information.