Guy Kendall's Photography
Exploring Guy Kendall’s photographic work starting in 1924, the viewer watches the progression from posed still shots of horses with their trainer/drivers to action shots which capture the excitement of races at the finish line. Through the albums, one is able to watch the growth of relationships between Kendall and the horsemen and women of the southern Maine fair circuit as remote, documentary snaps of horses and drivers become intimate portraits both at the race track and on area farms.
Kendall’s career at the track was put on pause in 1928 as he courted and then married Ruth B. Bennett. Kendall’s work resumed in the album labeled 1930a, where it is possible to see a quantum leap in the quality of his composition from images that were simply a matter of record to those with genuine artistic flair.
According to his niece, Anne Kendall Holmbom, Kendall used a Graflex box camera and glass negatives to capture many of his early photographs. He developed, printed, and re-touched all his photographs personally in his studio located on Congress Street in Portland, Maine.
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Berry Glow
Owner: G. Edgar Harder
Driver: Rowe
Race: West Oxford Agricultural Society, Fryeburg, Maine
Date: 10-4-1939 -
Bert Abbe Winning 1st heat
Owner: F. W. Woodman
Driver: J. Kingsley
Race: Free-for-All
Date: 7-2-1930 -
Bert Abbe Winning 1st heat from <b>Widow Grattan</b>
Owner: Wedgemere Stable
Driver: T. Ackerman
Race: Free-for-All
Date: 7-2-1930 -
Bertha C. Hanover
Owner: Hanover Shoe Farms
Driver: T. Berry
Race: Three Year Olds Trot
Date: 8-4-1934 -
Bessarion — Morgan up
Owner: Morgan
Driver: Morgan
Race: Oxford County Fair 2.19 Trot
Date: 9-13-1924 -
Bessie McKlyo — Willard up
Owner: Mooseleuk Club Stable
Driver: Willard
Race: Free for All
Date: 10-14-1927 -
Best wins 9th Race
Owner: Walter E. Newbert
Driver: A. Rodney
Race: Non Winners of Two Races on Grand Circuit Trot
Date: 8-5-1933 -
Betsy Brewer wins 1st
Owner: Sullivan & Mawhinney
Driver: Clukey
Race: 3 Year Old Pace
Date: 7-24-1940