Peter Ralston is world renowned photographer whose work I have admired for the 30 years  I've known him.  Peter and I have a wonderful conversation about his idyllic upbringing in rural Pennsylvania as the fortunate neighbor of the great 20th Century painter Andrew Wyeth and his equally creative and influential wife, Betsy. We talk about how they demanded he come with them to the coast of Maine as a young man--already a dedicated, fledgling photographer--and how that one act changed the entire trajectory of his life.  Peter talks openly and honestly about his challenges after a life-threatening and life-altering brain aneurysm and it's long-term complications, and what it took for him to finally make it back to "making pictures."  Peter's story is inspiring and heartfelt. He is a true creative.

Peter grew up in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, worked for a decade as a freelance photojournalist, and then began photographing the coast of Maine in 1978, drawn especially to the working communities that defined the coasts enduring character. His work has been reproduced in many books and magazines featured repeatedly on network television and has been exhibited in galleries, collections and museums throughout the United States and abroad. In 2003, Peter was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at Colby College for his photography, as well as his role as co-founder (with Philip Conkling) of the Island Institute. Although as a young man, Ralston studied very briefly under Ansel Adams, he acknowledges the greater artistic influence of a lifetime of association with Andrew Wyeth, a close friend and incisive mentor. Peter and his wife, Terri, opened the Ralston Gallery in Rockport, Maine, in 2011, selling his photographs as well as the work of his lifelong friends, Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. He is currently working on a major book about the coast of Maine.  www.ralstongallery.com

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