Keag River Gallery Ribbon Cutting and Exhibition

Keag River Gallery’s Inaugural Exhibition: “Classic Yachts” by John Snyder, a multimedia journalist specializing in the marine industry. The presentation of Snyder’s work focuses on racing images from three competitive events: The traditional Bahamian sloops at the National Family Island Regatta in Georgetown, Bahamas, the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and the New York Yacht Club's Classic Yacht Regatta in Newport, RI.

The Ribbon Cutting is at 4:00 pm, followed by the Exhibition Reception from 4:30–7:00 pm. John Snyder's exhibition, "Classic Yachts" runs through September 30, 2013.

Keag River Gallery is located at 25 Dublin Road, S. Thomaston. Open Thursdays through Sundays, 11 am to 5 pm. Keag River Gallery also offers custom digital photo editing, photo printing on paper, canvas and ARTiPLAQ photography mounting services.

About John Snyder:

John Snyder has always wanted to pursue a creative outlet, but it wasn’t until he began writing that he picked up the camera professionally. His first boat was a Dyer dinghy that he sailed in New York’s Jamaica Bay as a child. At the age of nine, he fished for blues and stripers in the waters off of Sandy Hook, NJ aboard his family’s boat.

His pivotal moment with photography came as a commercial fisherman in NY. While fishing on a trawler and working alongside Sicilian immigrants, Snyder noticed the visual nature of their work and was inspired to document it. It was natural to pick up his father’s old AFGA camera. At that point, Snyder decided he’d always have a career on the water.

As his understanding of the working waterfront grew, he pursued an English degree at Queen’s College, (City University of New York), followed by a Masters of Marine Science at State University of New York at Stonybrook. He also worked as a bayman for the Blue Points Clam & Oyster Company in Long Island, and as a marine patrol officer for the National Park Service at Fire Island National Seashore.

An opportunity to work for a year aboard the NOAA fisheries research ship Delaware II helped him understand the bigger picture. The ship conducted stock assessments from the New York Bight to the Gulf of Maine during a rapidly changing time in the industry; research that was crucial to the implementation of the 200-mile fishing limit.

Snyder swallowed the anchor in Rhode Island for one more degree in fisheries and marine technology at the University of Rhode Island. He quickly decided that selling fish would be better than catching it. He spent the next 20 years brokering seafood internationally. He began to work with journalists. That opened opportunities to pen articles for fisheries trade journals, and also opened the door to the yachting industry, where his photography grew in demand for editorial work. An invitation to write and shoot for Ocean Navigator led to a position as the yacht review editor, and also expanded his work with the company’s sister publication Professional Mariner. Snyder regularly contributes to both publications today.

Snyder’s current body of work encompasses classic yachting and the commercial shipbuilding industries. His current editorial assignments chronicle the working waterfront, and give readers a clear view of these ever changing industries.

“Classic Yachts” focuses on racing images from three competitive events: the National Family Island Regatta in Georgetown, Bahamas, the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and the New York Yacht Club's Classic Yacht Regatta in Newport, RI.

The National Family Island Regatta celebrates the historic value and cultural importance of traditional Bahamian sloops. Now in its 53rd year, the regatta has evolved into the country’s most important boating event. The Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta is the greatest gathering of yachts including the J class racing sloops. The New York Yacht Club Classic Yacht Regatta is a Corinthian style race of some of the most notable classic yachts still sailing. It’s now called the Tiedemann Classics Regatta in honor of Bob Teidemann, a classic yacht sailor who dies a few years ago.

John Snyder is a contributing editor at Ocean Navigator and correspondent for Professional Mariner. His work has appeared in SAIL, Yachting World (UK), Classic Boat (UK), Cruising World, Power Cruising, Maine Biz, and Seafood Business. A native New Yorker, he lives in mid-coast Maine.