July’s theme is WATER. Submissions should interpret the theme an interesting way, and be of sufficient image quality for publication.

Photographers of all ages and skill levels in Maine are encouraged to submit photographs.

The deadline for July’s contest is July 1.

To enter, send your photograph to bangorcommunitymedia@gmail.com with the subject heading, “Photo Contest.”

We are looking forward to your submissions!

➊ Skye Woods

Skye Woods

Skye Woods’ photo had excellent composition and texture, as well as an original choice of subject matter. The monochromatic medium works well because of the strong composition.

➋ Tony St. Pierre

Tony St. Pierre

A beautiful panoramic photo from an artist who specializes in this type of photography.

➌ Holly Wells

“Leaves”

Holly Wells

Photo committee member Martin Chartrand said: “I like the tight composition, the way the colors and textures of the tree are pictured that give it an intense energy, and the clear fit with the theme by being something you could only see outdoors.”

Thank you all for your submissions! We hope to see even more diverse talent in July.

We at Bangor Media Collective are super excited to be kicking off a fundraising season for the INK Youth Zine Project! INK helps Maine youth to publish zines through direct grants, workshops, support and more! Click here to check out one of the zines that INK has helped publish.

This season we’ve decided to fundraise using an amazing idea brought to us by Echen Alexander, a Collective member from Olympia, Washington.

We’ll be hosting the first of Bangor Media Collective’s Secret Cafes in Bangor in July. The Secret Cafe is a kind of in-home restaurant experience: the host cooks some dishes, gets some friends to act as waitstaff & cooks, and invites their friends over for a meal. The guests pay–either a la carte or a flat price for a meal with all the extras (or some combination)– and the money goes to support the cause, in this case the INK Youth Zine Project. It can be really fun, with a themed menu, dress-up atmosphere & coat-checkers, or simple with a buffet and outdoor dining. It’s all up to the host!

So, here’s what we’re doing: We’re sending out an invitation for folks to host Secret Cafes in their homes during this summer! The style of meal, the way you do it is entirely up to you (though we’d be delighted to help you with ideas)! Do what you feel comfortable doing and what your friends will love. And you’ll be raising money for a great cause– helping us to encourage and amplify youth voices and artistic creativity through print media. If you’re interested in hosting a Secret Cafe in support of INK Youth Zine Project, email INK-YZP at bangorcommunitymedia@gmail.com. We’ll be psyched to talk about it with you and tell you what you need to know.

I’ve created an online document, a “How-To” for Secret Cafe’ers to use as a starting point!! Check it out!
Hosting a Secret Cafe for INK Youth Zine Project

Here are some links describing how other groups have used Secret Cafes to raise money for causes.
http://www.olympiabds.org/2010/olympia-bds-presents-secret-cafe.html
http://olyblog.net/food-justice-secret-cafe
http://carw.org/2011/04/06/secret-cafe-tearaiser-for-pinay-sa-seattle-423/
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2010/04/p-patch-secret-cafe-for-spring-into-bed-fri-april-23rd/

INK Youth Zine Project has previously given support to help publish SHOOT: (a youth-edited photography journal), Sprout (a youth-edited literary journal), and the Trans Kid Zine, a zine for and by transgender children, facilitated by the Trans Youth Equality Foundation. INK also publishes the Youth Activism Gathering Collective Zine and facilitates the zine workshop, in addition to offering zine workshops and other support to groups and individuals. This year, INK hopes to make the INK Project bigger and better than ever!

What I found wasn’t exactly all Bangor zines, and some were more recent– I’m young enough to have not really been participating in zine culture in Bangor until 2003 or so. But I had made a couple trips to buy up whatever zine consignments area stores were still carrying before someone threw them out accidentally or stored them in a box never to be seen again. That is how I ended up with White Man – White Flag and Void zine, among others. Some zines–like Sunshines Underground and The Looking Glass– came out of my own circle of friends, making zines before we knew of the wider zine culture. We’re still making them today.

It’s my hope when I acquire zines that they can someday be shared more widely, so I’m glad these scrappy cut-n-paste artifacts of Maine zine history are now available online in PDF. Check them out!

R-Massive Zine Archive >

-Zeraph

➊ Lily Muscatell

“Tiny”

Lily Muscatell, "Tiny"

We loved Lily’s photo because it is fun, humorous and lively– great characteristics for a “Spring” photo contest. The yawn perfectly captures that sense of trying to “wake up” after a long… long…  Maine winter.

➋ Sandy Olsen

“ if you don’t know where you are, how do you know where you are going?”

Sandy Olsen, " if you don't know where you are, how do you know where you are going?"

This photo was a standout with its beautiful composition and color. I love marshes and ponds in the spring– they’re not the “iconic Maine” of the coastline that everyone flocks to see, but they’re my Maine. This little guy fishing captures the still, quiet damp calm of a Maine spring day.

➌ Laura Dunn

“Daisy with clam diggers; gooserocks beach”

Laura Dunn, "Daisy with clam diggers; gooserocks beach"

Dunn says that this is “our beloved hen Daisy on an excursion to the beach last weekend.” Daisy does look right at home there.

We truly enjoyed each and every photo sent to us, and we’ve published more of our favorites in the May photo gallery.

 I’m Cassidy and 17, I don’t believe in grudges or lack of representation. I build my life only around the most influential people I can find with the most vast tastes and hobbies. I love owls and anything vintage and I probably don’t belong in central Maine, but for some reason I live here.

As for my artwork, I pretty much only do photography but every now and again a pen and paper flows okay… Keep Reading >

Photo by Suzanne Anderson

Do you want to spend a weekend afternoon in June participating in an amazing, educational, artistic & fun project bringing awareness to the how the labor mural removed from Maine’s Dept. of Labor relates to our lives today?

Send Zeraph an email at bangorcommunitymedia
@gmail.com!

Bangor Media Collective is working with Food AND Medicine and Eastern Maine Labor Council to create a “living” piece of labor history.

We will raise awareness through this project about the challenges people still face today at work. Six awesome, committed youth are needed for this fun project. To get involved, contact Zeraph at bangorcommunitymedia@gmail.com.

These days, she is also working an another project in conjunction with the station– a Grassroots Media Conference at Unity College this September.