Pretty Rugged Book

Photographic work created for Pretty Rugged: The Truth About Female Fishermen, by author Ali Farrell. Photos were shot over a period of nearly 2 years up and down the coast of Maine both digitally and on 35mm film. Hannah explored the working waterfront in many coastal fishing communities and shot aboard several working lobster boats to create this body of work.

Action shot of lobsterman putting a lobster into a basket. Her hair is highlighted by the sun, it's visibly cold. Image shot on film on Maine lobster boat out of Rockport, Maine.
Environmental portrait on film of female lobsterman Krista Tripp in Penobscot Bay, Maine off of Spruce Head Island. Soft light blue background with green oilskins and orange fishing knife. Documentary photography, Hannah McGowan.
Environmental portrait of Maine kelp farmer and lobsterman Karen Cooper of North Haven, Maine. Orange oilskins and and foggy coastal background. Maine, aquaculture, documentary.
Film shot of female fisherman Ruby Hopkins returning a yellow lobster trap to the Gulf of Maine near Vinalhaven Maine. Orange oilskins, blue skies and deep green blue water. Documentary shot by Hannah McGowan.
Environmental portrait of Maine lobster captain Ariel Gilley. She is seated on traps on Mount Desert Island, Maine on Beal's Lobster Pier. Documentary shot by Hannah McGowan.
Lobster boat captain Sadie Samuels with a sun flare behind her in the early morning. Commercial fishing, documentary, film photography, Hannah McGowan.
Sternman Ruby Hopkins on a fish pier in Vinalhaven, Maine. Shot on Kodak Professional film, documentary style Hannah McGowan.
Silhouette of lobster boat captain Beba Rosen of Vinalhaven, Maine as she pulls lobsters from a trap on her lobster boat. Shot on film in a documentary style photoshoot by Hannah McGowan.
Wide angle shot of female fisherman Ariel Gilley of Southwest Harbor, Maine sitting on the gunwale of her lobster boat at dock. Shot on 35mm film by documentary photographer Hannah McGowan.
Smiling portrait of female captain Sadie Samuels of Rockport, Maine on her lobster boat, the F/V Must Be Nice. Color image, water droplets highlighted in the sun. Documentary photographer from Maine Hannah McGowan.
Environmental portrait of female commercial fishing captain Beba Rosen of Vinalhaven, Maine. Green shirt, short blond hair, light blue skies and deep blue waters. 35mm film documentary photograph by Maine photographer Hannah McGowan for a book.
Female lobsterman seated atop a stack of lobster traps laughing and looking to the side while wearing orange oilskins. Taken by Maine photographer Hannah McGowan on 35mm film near Mount Desert Island, Maine.
Environmental portrait of 101 year old Maine lobsterman Virginia Oliver, the Lobster Lady, near Spruce Head Island, Maine. Shot on 35mm film; subject is close, smiling, and wearing a light blue sweatshirt. Maine photographer, Hannah McGowan.
Portrait of female lobsterman and captain with arm tattoos. Shot on 35mm film for Pretty Rugged book, by Maine documentary photographer Hannah McGowan.
Environmental portrait of a female lobsterman standing in front of her stacked lobster traps in Vinalhaven, Maine. Shot on 35mm film for Pretty Rugged book; green grass, long blond hair, soft grey skies. Documentary photographer, Hannah McGowan.
Action shot of female lobsterman emptying lobster traps on a lobster boat in Maine near Mount Desert Island. Shot on 35mm film for Pretty Rugged book by Hannah McGowan. Big action shot.
Environmental portrait on 35mm film of female lobsterman in Southwest Harbor, Maine. She is flexing her bicep muscle and laughing, wearing orange oilskins on a fish pier. Shot on 35mm film by documentary photographer Hannah McGowan for Pretty Rugged.