Join photographer Jim Hooper for a gallery talk in the second floor special exhibition gallery where Portraits of a Working Waterfront is currently on view through February 1, 2015. The exhibition features 71 portraits of men and women who make their livings working today in one of this country’s oldest seaports, Gloucester, Massachusetts. The images were taken by Jim Hooper and include photos of a wide range of individuals involved in the in-shore and off-shore groundfish fishery and in the shore side businesses which supports them.

This program is free for members or with Museum admission. Space is limited. Reservations are required.  To make a reservation or for more information please call (978)283-0455 x10 or email [email protected].

Additional programming around the Working Waterfront exhibition will include a panel discussion about Gloucester’s working waterfront on January 24 at 2:00 p.m. and a performance of composer Robert Bradshaw’s composition, Sounds of the Working Waterfront on Saturday, January 31 at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.

After successfully completing a large community-based portraits project in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2012, Hooper was drawn to Gloucester by the city’s famed past and by the spirit and determination of the people who draw their living from the sea today. With the help of industry leaders from the Northeast Seafood Coalition and Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, Hooper was able to identify key individuals and families within Gloucester’s fishing community and entice them into sitting for their portraits. The project took 18 months to complete with the result being a powerful and thought-provoking portfolio of the people who make up the port of Gloucester today.