The Portland Press Herald / The Maine Sunday Telegram

March 10

Sunday Best site tells everyday stories of regular people

— Know Your Blog is a new Thursday feature in NXT: The Next Generation, reporter Justin Ellis' blog. Read the full Q&A with Peter Smith and Natalie Conn there, at pressherald.com.

Something like The Sunday Best was bound to happen. The creativity and talent ambling around the Portland area (think of how many artists, designers, Web developers, musicians and photographers you know) is ripe for collaboration. (Anyone remember The Blue Room Project?)

For Peter Smith and Natalie Conn, the time seemed right for a new experiment in storytelling.

The Sunday Best is that experiment.

Since October, the pair have unveiled new multimedia projects, including still photos and slide shows, once a week (on Sundays, hence the name).

Smith, who has written for The Christian Science Monitor, The Phoenix and GOOD, and Conn, whose photos have appeared in The Forecaster, Mainebiz and Port City Life, find the everyday, under-the-radar stories about regular people.

They recently did a slide show on the Grand View Coffee Shop, aka The Topless Coffee Shop, that got picked up by a number of sites.

What might end up deciding the fate of The Sunday Best is crowdsourced funding, or crowdfunding.

At the moment, the site relies solely on donations, even dropping $5 in the hat, to keep going.

The Sunday Best can be found at www.thesundaybest.net.

Have an idea for Know Your Blog? We're always looking for suggestions of blogs to feature. E-mail Justin at jellis@pressherald.com or find him on Twitter (@JustinNXT).