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.
-
West Virginia Girl wins 2nd Race
Owner: Charles Churchill
Driver: Churchill
Race: Pine Tree Circuit
Date: 7-2-1936 -
W. G. H — Mann up
Owner: Dr. Pletts
Driver: Mason
Race: 2.25 Trot for Oxford County, Harrison, and Naples Horses
Date: 9-3-1927 -
Widow Brewer
Owner: Aaron F. Williams
Driver: O. Erskine
Race: The National Stake Race Two Year Olds Pacing One Mile
Date: 7-30-1936 -
Wildcat Volo
Owner: M. Haines, the Shoe Wizard
Driver: E. Myers
Race: Kite Track, Old Orchard Beach
Date: 7-11-1940 -
Wildcat Volo
Owner: M. Haines, the Shoe Wizard
Driver: E. Myers
Race: Kite Track, Old Orchard Beach
Date: 7-11-1940 -
Wildcat Volo wins 2nd race
Owner: M. Haines, The Shoe Wizard
Driver: E. Myers
Race: Kite Track, Old Orchard Beach
Date: 7-17-1940
