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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Sunrise beats Brave Arion
Owner: Weston E. Taylor
Driver: W. Taylor
Race: 2.18 Class Pace
Date: 9-28-1933 -
Sunshine Express wins 2nd race
Owner: James Phalen
Driver: Phalen
Race: Bickford Motor Service Race
Date: 9-8-1937 -
Swingtime
Owner: George H. Reed of the Reed Brothers Stable
Driver: Wendell Wathen
Race: 2.09 Pace
Date: 7-25-1940
