Jonathan Fisher House

An earlier photo in deep snow, taken 3 March, 2009.

The yellow house is a well known landmark in Blue Hill, Maine. The home, which is now a museum, belonged to the town's first Congregational minister and was, in fact, built by Parson Jonathan Fisher with the help of his neighbors. The frame went up in a day in 1812 and the house was completed in 1814.

The parson was a stern shepherd who preached a rigid code of behavior and unquestioning devotion to God to his flock, but he demanded far more of himself than he did of his parishioners. Jonathan Fisher was a builder, architect, draftsman, artist, inventor, writer, scholar and more. One can still see the imprint of his personality in his home today.

I have wanted to photograph the interior of the Parson Fisher House on a winter's day for a long time. The project I envisioned was a study of the natural light, to capture the essence of the rooms as they were long ago. I imagined the parson and his wife, Dolly, looking through the same windows feeling just as anxious for spring as I am now. New president, Amey Dodge, kindly gave up a morning to let me in with my camera.

The house will not open until mid July so many artifacts are still packed away for safekeeping. Pink insulation board covers the fireplaces and green rug pads are scattered across the floors. I touched nothing and simply set up my camera, shutter release cable and tripod. The conditions were challenging and, by mid morning, the sun was already higher than I would have liked. To complicate things further, fast moving clouds obscured sunlight and I had to rapidly change settings throughout the shoot.

The following photos are from my project. Clicking on the photos will take you to Flickr, once there, please click on the photo again to see in Lightbox and once more on Fullscreen to experience a March morning at the Jonathan Fisher House.

Jonathan Fisher's self portrait.

Jonathan Fisher's study.

Upstairs hall with partial view of Jonathan Fisher's bedroom.

Looking into the children's bedroom.

Desk made by Jonathan Fisher.

Stairs to the attic, a space that was often used for visitors while Jonathan Fisher lived in the house. Rustic and unfinished, there is little to see today apart from a collection of shoe forms in many sizes.

The Fisher House Journal provides additional views and more information on past projects at the museum.