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Ben McCanna has been a staff photographer and occasional writer at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram since 2015 and has been working for newspapers since 2010. Ben studied creative writing and literature at Emerson College and embarked on a decade-long career in publishing after graduating in 1997. In his mid 30s, Ben shifted careers by taking a job as a reporter at a small newspaper in northwest Colorado and never looked back. Over the years, he slowly transitioned from writer to photographer - his true passion. Ben is a 2018 winner of an Award of Excellence from Pictures of the Year International. He lives on Peaks Island with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and two sons.

Latest
  • Published
    March 5, 2022

    In photos: See the action from Saturday’s high school basketball championships

    The Skowhegan High girls went undefeated, the Nokomis boys and 6-foot-7 freshman Cooper Flagg showed us why they’ve been the top story in Maine sports all season, and the South Portland boys team won its first state title in 30 years. Here are some of our favorite photos from the final day of Maine’s high school basketball tournament.

  • Published
    February 4, 2022

    The best Press Herald photography in January 2022

    January is the time we settle into the start of real winter with its bone-chilling cold, its scant hours of daylight, its snow and ice. Take a look at some of our best photography from the month as entertainment during a time of isolation.

  • Published
    January 27, 2022

    How a Press Herald photographer and Maine Twitter reunited a lost GoPro with its owner

    I stumbled upon a mystery on Wednesday at Kettle Cove State Park in Cape Elizabeth: A GoPro lying on the beach like treasure buried in wet sand. I plucked it from the muck, and, to my surprise, it still worked. It even had 83 percent of its battery life left. As a photographer, I know […]

  • Published
    December 25, 2021

    2021 Photos of the Year: Photographers’ Choice

    2021 was a roller coaster ride. It started with mobs attacking the Capitol to try to overturn the presidential election and is ending with a new surge of the coronavirus. There was enough bad news – fires, floods, disasters of every natural and manmade kind – to make you want to bury your head under the covers and stay there. But there was also the miracle of vaccines – by the end of June, hardly any vaccinated people were dying of COVID-19. We gained a new appreciation of the simple but deep pleasures of meeting with family and friends, going to a country fair or a high school baseball game, looking for beauty in the flight of an owl or a solar eclipse at dawn. For our 2021 Photos of the Year collection, Portland Press Herald photographers voted on one another’s photos, then selected their own favorites from the top vote-getters. We hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them.

  • Published
    December 25, 2021

    2021 Photos Of the Year: A Pandemic Story

    The wide availability of vaccines was supposed to get COVID-19 under control in 2021. Instead, the pandemic has worsened. With high levels of transmission and the arrival of the omicron variant, the winter months look bleak. But Mainers are resilient and resourceful. Children are in school, live entertainment has returned, and restaurants and other businesses survived – and in some cases thrived. Wearing masks has become commonplace, as has caring for our neighbors. Take a look back at the pandemic in Maine in 2021 through the eyes of Portland Press Herald photographers.

  • Published
    July 12, 2021

    In photos: Maine summer in full swing

    It begins unofficially after Memorial Day, with flowers in full bloom in June and ever-lengthening hours of sunshine. July brings the heat, warmer ocean water in the southern part of the state – and the tourists. It begins to slip through our fingers in August, all too soon. Summer in Maine.

  • Published
    June 21, 2021

    In photos: Highlights of the spring season’s high school sports

    The sound of a ball smacking a glove or a bat, feet pounding up dust, fans cheering on a warm evening, it’s all ours again as life returns to normal. Peruse these Portland Press Herald photographs of high school sports this spring season.

  • Published
    June 14, 2021

    In photos: Graduating seniors celebrate a major milestone

    The pandemic made this a challenging year for Maine students, but many seniors were able to celebrate their high school graduation with in-person ceremonies. Portland Superintendent Xavier Botana, at Deering High School’s graduation on June 2, noted the senior class missed out on many of the most cherished rituals of their junior and senior years, saying, “We’re very proud of you, Class of 2021, for how you’ve handled this hardest of years.” Portland Press Herald photographers captured the joy of the moment at several local graduations.

  • Published
    May 17, 2021

    In photos: Maine teens who got vaccines

    Press Herald photographers caught up to Portland-area high school students getting their COVID-19 vaccinations this spring. Here’s what they had to say.

  • Published
    May 3, 2021

    In photos: Scenes of April give way to flowers of May

    Our photographers capture the dreary and the glorious of April before it finally yields to the sunshine of true spring.