LETTER

 

                                                                                                                                         

In 2025, the climate initiative continued apace, with five Bay Area students and two Chicago Area students conducting photography expeditions that were filmed by local cinematographers. A two-minute trailer encompassing the Maine, California, and Illinois efforts was produced and became the project's calling card.  Meanwhile, a fine cut of a 27-minute documentary was produced in concert with True Life Media, a Portland, Maine filmmaker and film editor, heading towards a final cut in 2026.

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The project was the focus of a Lunch & Learn episode hosted by Maine Conservation Voters, which included one of the Chicago area photographers, and a second exhibit at Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth.

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The project won a $2,250 grant from The Puffin Foundation and a $10,000 grant from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation. At year end came word of a $10,000 grant from the Park Foundation for work in the year ahead.

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Meanwhile, the various Seeing for Ourselves initiatives came to the attention of Maine's Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations, which awarded our partnership with the local immigrant support group Generational Noor a $4,500 grant to promote a new visual narrative about the state's immigrant communities. The effort led to gallery exhibits in Lewiston and Cape Elizabeth, along with a four-minute film that would be aired by the PBS station Maine Public in the coming year.

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The balance sheet for the year showed $12,250 in climate grant income that was spent on film production, participant stipends, exhibit preparation, and other project expenses, along with Jonathan's personal funds. The $4,500 Permanent Commission grant was jointly expended by Generational Noor and SFO on exhibit and film expenses, along with stipends.

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Founder George Carrano sadly passed away. He will be missed terribly by his family and everyone he touched. Through participatory photography, George helped reshape countless lives—and, in meaningful ways, the world those lives inhaibit.

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Meanwhile, Jonathan now contributed virtually a full person-year in voluntary labor.

 

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