Chris Bennett of Poland, Maine is no stranger to the backcountry of the USA’s cherished lands. One of his recent assignments with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) took him deep into the native lands of the Penobscot Nation in Maine. In November 2023, TPL and the Penobscot Nation — regarded as one of the oldest continuous governments in the world — announced the return of 31,367 acres of unceded indigenous land, taken from them in the nineteenth century, back to its ancestral stewards.
Chris has been contracted for numerous assignments by TPL. This one was a mostly solo-project focusing on aerial drone photography. He spent several days shooting the forest and rivers just south of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Alone, out of reach of cell service, and with deep trust from his client, Chris found himself once again on “a dream project,” doing what he loves most.
Founded in 1972, Trust for Public Land is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with offices in almost every state, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They work to create equitable access to the outdoors, and partner with communities to create parks and protect public land. In the last two decades, they have partnered with over 70 Indigenous and Tribal communities to return more than 200,000 acres of unceded land to their ancestral guardians.
Chris, a lover of nature and the isolated backcountry, first worked with them a few years ago thanks to the recommendation of a friend.
I had an old friend from high school who started working for TPL and she knew I was a photographer. They hired me back in 2020 for the first project. I shot stills near the Appalachian Trail up in Maine in conjunction with a video team to create a promo film for the land that they had conserved up there.
This initial project for TPL demanded a lot of physical and mental energy. It was a project more suited to a professional outdoorsperson than a typical commercial photographer.
For my first project in 2020, TPL conserved a high mountain pond in the back country called Bald Mountain Pond. It’s right next to the Appalachian Trail. It was very hard to get to. You had to paddle across the pond to a campsite on the Appalachian Trail. We did a sunrise shoot up on a mountain top which involved trucking a lot of gear.
His first project with TPL was a positive experience for everyone involved. From that point on, their relationship has flourished and led to many more backcountry photography expeditions.
Since then I’ve worked on several projects in New England and also in the Shawangunks in New York, just north of New York City, and an urban conservation project in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. This project in Maine is probably the eighth or tenth project I’ve done for them.
Chris loves nature. The isolated and pristine landscapes of the backcountry are the common subject throughout his body of work. He ventures deep into remote and untrodden regions, capturing the tranquil beauty and grandeur of some of the world’s most isolated milieus.
I market myself as kind of an adventure photographer. I am the guy that folks hire in New England if something is hard to reach, remote, and requires hiking into a location overnight.
Chris’s ability to navigate these difficult environments while juggling both complex equipment and detailed shot-lists has allowed him to create a niche for himself in a very competitive field. He has developed a close working relationship with TPL and understands exactly what they are looking for without needing much direction.
Usually Trust for Public Land projects require a lot of landscape, a lot of aerials, and some imagery of models recreating on the land, hiking, and boating. So that’s basically what I’ve done for most of the projects with them.
Due to short notice, his previous experience with TPL was crucial for this assignment that took him deep into the Maine forest. His extensive working relationship and trust with the client were keys to the overall success of the project.
This was a pretty short notice shoot. I think I was notified a week before I went out and photographed it. Planning with them involved just a few quick emails basically outlining what they needed. The biggest thing was landscapes and aerials showing the land that was conserved. The second priority was getting some models. I was able to do that. Some friends who I’ve photographed before brought a canoe up. We flew the drone around for aerial images, and I hopped in the canoe to get a few shots of them recreating on the newly conserved land. Mostly, I was trying to capture compelling light and landscape type images that recorded the land that they’re conserving for press releases.
There’s a unique stillness that settles inside of those who venture into isolated regions of nature. Although few of us have the opportunity to experience this firsthand, Chris communicates this experience throughout his work. As one can imagine, however, getting these shots requires commitment, experience, and tenacity.
This was a very remote parcel of land. There are roads to it but they’re very, very rough logging roads. It’s mostly surrounded by privately owned logging company land. I was able to drive very gingerly in my van but it took a few hours to get to the location.
Once at the site, Chris was again in his element.
I camped right on the lakeside. It was very peaceful, very quiet, in the height of fall in Maine. It was really, really sublime and beautiful, just like a fairytale with mist coming off the lake in the morning. This was a truly ideal project and very low stress.
Fall season in the Northeast is frigid and inhospitable. Chris is no stranger to roughing it, but, fortunately, he was able to bring some comforts with him to the backcountry.
I stayed at the spot for three days, two nights, sleeping in my van. The fact that I was able to sleep in the van was actually kind of nice because sometimes I’m sleeping on the ground in a tent or in the dirt.
Out of cell phone range and hours from civilization, Chris only had himself and his experience to rely on. Until his friends arrived on the last day, he was alone with the flora and fauna of Maine’s vast wilderness. His relationship with TPL, however, meant that there would be no issues completing the predetermined shot-list.
There was no cell service at the site. I couldn’t check in or send images to the client to get feedback. But, there’s a lot of trust in me to get the right stuff so it wasn’t too much of an issue.
The only issues arose when his friends were late to arrive at the site. Without cell service, Chris had no way of contacting them to help guide them to the location, nor the means to coordinate and organize his time for optimal lighting conditions.
My friends (the models) came up one of the evenings and that’s when I photographed them. Because this was a very, very remote location, I wasn’t sure they would be able to find their way. Fortunately, they did, but they were a little late so we were crunched for time. We had about an hour before sunset to get some images of them canoeing around.
A seasoned photographer like Chris knows how to adapt to the moment and get the best images with what is available. Often it is when working with limitations that a photographer’s technical ingenuity and artistic creativity shine.
All in all, it was a dream project to be trusted out of cell service to create beautiful landscape imagery, outdoor/adventure imagery, and lifestyle imagery. I love being in the backcountry, I love being alone surrounded by nature, and I love working for the Trust for Public Land.
Chris’s ability to document the raw beauty and sublimity of the natural world is evident throughout this series as is his love for this pristine environment. The people of the Penobscot Nation believe that the river and the land are also citizens of the tribe. Chris’s images are an homage to the vitality and life of the natural world. Looking at them, one can begin to feel how these lands are thriving with life and an ineffable presence of their native ancestors.
See more of Chris’s work on his website.
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