With a background in Art History, graduating from Barnard College, Columbia University in 1960, Linn Sage first worked as the art and photography editor for a literary magazine “Contact – the San Francisco Collection of New Writing, Art and Ideas”; then as assistant to the Cover Editor of “Newsweek” in New York in the mid 1960’s.
At that point, Linn decided to jump in herself, picking up her camera to document the turbulent times of the 60’s as a freelance photographer based in New York. “From the start, Sage put herself up against the front lines of restless social issues as a gutsy photojournalist… striving for ‘the frame cutting through life in a surprising way… excited by the spontaneous and instantaneous,'” (Sue Alllison, London, UK. Amateur Photography Magazine, 8/1981.) This work was widely exhibited and published.
By contrast, the exhibition at the Northeast Harbor Library August 1 – 30, 2022, is a retrospective look at a lifetime of highly anticipated summers returning to Mount Desert Island. Upon arriving, Linn likes to head out to one of the offshore islands where many of these photos were taken.
In “Photographing Maine 1840-2000” John Chandler wrote “Sage is captivated by photography’s ‘spontaneity and speed, the fact that it is quicker than the eye’… She likes to energize the Maine landscape by including people (especially children) through gesture and motion. ‘Watching everything in flux – tides, seasons, people, families – I hope to find in slices of time something eternal’ she said.”
Over the years her work was exhibited at the Wingspread Gallery in Northeast Harbor, the Leighton Gallery in Blue Hill, and some group exhibitions at the Blum Gallery, COA. When not in Maine, Linn Sage still lives and works in New York.
The exhibit, “NxNE: Summer Migrations” in the Northeast Harbor Library’s Mellon Room is available to view during library hours. Occasionally, the Mellon Room is booked for private use – please call ahead to confirm availability if you are making a special trip to see the exhibit. Contact Kate Young with questions about our exhibits at kyoung@nehlibrary.org or 207 276 3333.
