PORTLAND, Maine — The saying goes – “Don’t quit your day job” – and Dave Dostie has not. He has worked for the State of Maine for about 18 years – 8 of those years with the Office of Behavioral Health. He has been part of the state’s effort to prepare and manage the coronavirus response. While working for the state of Maine IS his day job – he is also a photographer. And at the end of a work day, a few weeks back, he grabbed his camera and headed outside – not sure what inspiration he would find. As you might guess, he found plenty.
He headed to the streets of Augusta where he works, and the first images he captured of store fronts reflected hardship – even fear in the first days of the response to the pandemic.
"What I found, after doing that project, was that this really wasn’t a direction that I felt passionate about because I was really telling a story that was negative. Even though I was still telling a story. So it was really important to me to kind of turn that around and that’s when I decided that I really wanted to start to highlight the human element of this, and focus on individuals remaining positive and being resilient through these really difficult times," says Dave. "A lot of people are living through fear and panic – but my goal was to try to find a way to capture that while also creating a positive message through imagery."
With each click of the shutter, Dave adds to a body of work he is now calling “From Six Feet Away”. The images convey serenity, a sense of determination that is guiding folks through this storm. When he posts his images, Dave tells a short story about each individual, how they’ve been impacted, and how they are remaining positive.
"I thought it was important to be able to tie these individuals back to the community." The subjects of his images are both old friends, and perfect strangers.
It has been important to Dave to maintain his creativity during a time when much of his photography business has gone away. He shares an image a day to his Facebook page and Instagram. He says he plans to continue the project until we no longer have to be six feet apart. If you would like to follow Dave's work, you can find him here on Facebook, or @dostiephoto on Instagram.