Mary Claire Carroll
I am a portrait photographer. I help businesses, organizations, families, and individuals tell their stories with photography that conveys the image they want the world to see. I have a gift of putting people at ease in front of the camera. My approach fosters confidence and is energizing, both key factors in developing strong, dynamic photographs.
Nine years ago I created a line of cards and prints as a way to share my personal work and to bring back the art of writing notes to each other. The images on the cards and prints depict moments of beauty in our Vermont world. The Vermont Scenic Portrait cards and prints can be found at Artists Medium Art Shop in Cambridge, Bridgeside Bookstore in Waterbury, and Shelburne Farms Gift Shop.
I met landscape painter, Julie McGowan, about 8 years ago. We both were part of a women’s artist cooperative based in Richmond, with a pop-up store in Williston. Julie was just returning to her painting at that time, and we discovered a mutual love of the Vermont landscape. After several road trips with our cameras, we decided that it might be fun to present a show of paintings and photographs expressing different interpretations of similar scenes. My tools were a digital camera and editing software. Hers were oil paints, paintbrushes, canvas, and a lot of glazes. We called the show Luminous Landscapes.
While working on the project with Julie, I found my work changing. Under her influence, I moved away from the blue sky, Vermont Lifestyle - photos to searching for light, darkness, clouds, and the luminous color of our landscape.
Mary Claire Carroll Exhibits & Projects
Luminous Landscapes 2018....
An ongoing collaborative project between myself and oil painter Julie McGowan of Richmond. The exhibit currently consists of 17 paintings of VT Scenes by Julie that are paired with 17 of my photographs taken at the same locations. Our first showing of the exhibit was at the Emilie A. Gruppe Gallery in Jericho in June of 2018.
Women Helping Women Photo Exhibit/Vermont Magazine 1998 – 2007
WHWPE was a self directed projected funded by grants from the Vermont Community Foundation. I traveled around the state to photograph women whose work, volunteer or paid, benefitted the lives of Vermont women and their families. Each woman was asked to describe her work, what her goals were, and what her hopes and dreams were for the future of VT women and their families. It was a black and white photo exhibit that was shown in several communities in the state. The exhibit was designed to bring awareness to the issues Vermont women and their families face every day.
During this periodI was hired to document notable women in the state and focus on their work and lives by Vermont Magazine. I worked with the writer to identify these women and do all the photography. The magazine, primarily a regional tourist magazine, carried all 17 profiles.This work came about as an offshoot of my own Women Helping Women project.
Living Connections: Visions and Voices of Shared Lives 2009-2010
Living Connections captures the voices and experiences of individuals with and without disabilities who have stories to tell about the new directions for disability services. Written by Deborah Lisi-Baker and photographed by me, the exhibit consists of 11 20 by 24 panels with images and texts telling the moving stores of a diverse group of Vermonters. Living Connections traveled throughout Vermont and now resides in the offices of a local self advocacy group. Living Connections also appeared at the Vermont Statehouse as a way to bring awareness of these stories to legislators.
Vermont Works for Women:Labor of Love Exhibit 2012-2014
A collaborative project with an organization called Vermont Works for Women to help them celebrate 25 years of helping women. I photographed 29 women across Vermont. The exhibit itself traveled to almost every county in the state and also spent a month at the Vermont Statehouse. VWW says this about Labor of Love. “It recognizes and honors women who are passionate about their work, inspire others, and exemplify excellence in their career fields. The honorees are farmers, doctors, tattoo artists, college presidents, electricians, general store clerks and entrepreneurs- the young and young at heart; women well known for their contributions, and other beginning to make their marks.”
Take a Tour of Vermont Working Lands October 2013 – December 2013
Photographed 13 grantees of the Working Lands Enterprise Fund. These grantees are entrepreneurs in agriculture, food, and forestry based businesses. They received funds to help expand and develop their businesses as they help keep Vermont lands working and productive. The images were printed onto large panels and were shown at the Working Lands Summit and used for advocacy at the Statehouse. I do like the mission of the Fund which says "The Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Board is an impact investment organization whose mission is to grow the economies, cultures, and communities of Vermont's working landscape by making essential, catalytic investments in critical leverage points of the Vermont farm and forest economy, from individual enterprises to industry sectors.
