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Empowering People through Portraits
Nanette Gordon Exhibits and Offers a Workshop Series as Our September Artist for Aging
From the August 2025 Issue of THE CAIRN STONE
This September, the Aroostook Agency on Aging will shine a spotlight on the beauty, wisdom, and complexity of women over 50 through a powerful Artist for Aging program featuring Maine-based portrait photographer and storyteller Nanette Faye Gordon. The centerpiece of this month-long celebration is Gordon’s exhibit, The Empowered Portrait: Seeing and Celebrating Women Over 50. The show is accompanied by a unique workshop series, Seen and Celebrated: A Portrait of You, which invites participants to engage in the same kind of transformative storytelling and creative expression found in the exhibit.
Gordon’s exhibit will be on display at the Agency’s Presque Isle office throughout the month, with a special reception during Presque Isle's First Friday Art Walk on September 5. More than just a collection of striking photographs, the exhibit offers a deeply personal and affirming look into the lives of women who have
Photographer Nanette Gordon joins the Agency as September's Artist for Aging.
chosen to embrace visibility, vulnerability, and strength in the second half of life. Each portrait is paired with written reflections — sometimes poetic, sometimes raw — co-created with each subject to reflect her truth and lived experience.
“The Empowered Portrait is not about glamour or perfection,” says Gordon. “It’s about honoring the layers, the laughter lines, the heartache, the growth — and allowing women to be truly seen for who they are.”
Best known for her Empowered Portrait journeys, Gordon combines photography and storytelling in a process that invites each participant to reclaim her narrative. Her work is featured in the short film Exposed to the Light, which documents one woman’s courageous journey toward self-love through the lens of Gordon’s camera.
In addition to the gallery exhibit, Gordon will lead Seen and Celebrated: A Portrait of You, a companion workshop series designed for 12 pairs of participants—parent and child, close friends, couples, or any two people with a trusted bond. Over three weeks, beginning September 18, participants will explore the process of capturing what best represents them through writing, discussion, and creative support. Guided prompts, storytelling exercises, and photography tips will help each person reflect on their identity while supporting their partner in doing the same. The experience culminates in a collaborative portrait that reflects their shared journey.
The workshop cost is $150 per pair, with four scholarships generously provided by York's of Houlton and Katahdin Forest Products available to ensure access for those with limited income. No prior experience in writing or photography is required — just a willingness to reflect, share, and be seen. “These workshops are not about writing a memoir or creating a masterpiece,” Gordon explains. “They’re about finding your voice again — or maybe for the first time — and giving yourself permission to take up space.”
Gordon splits her time between a small farm in Monticello and a tiny cottage on the Maine coast. A lifelong creative with a background in both writing and photography, she is devoted to celebrating the stories of women who are so often overlooked in mainstream culture.
The Agency’s Artist for Aging series is designed to highlight the role of creativity in healthy aging and to foster deeper connections among older adults through shared experiences in the arts. Gordon’s work, with its mix of honesty, artistry, and empowerment, is a natural fit.
To learn more about The Empowered Portrait exhibit or to register for the Seen and Celebrated workshop with Nanette Gordon, contact the Aroostook Agency on Aging at (207) 764-3396.