THE CONNECTICUT RIVER
Photographs by Donna Carpenters
July 18 through August 8

The Connecticut River has always been the lifeblood of this valley. It has nourished fields, provided power for mills, and transported people and goods throughout New England for centuries. In 1659 the Porter family traveled up the river and stopped where it makes a sharp bend, depositing rich silt over the fields. There the travelers founded Hadley, and Moses Porter founded his farmstead along the river where the rich soil nourished the family’s farm. The Phelps took ferries across the river to visit friends in Hatfield and Northampton, and had goods shipped to and from Hartford.
Donna Carpenter has always been drawn to water; she was born in a house on the Connecticut River, and after having lived in various locations around the country, moved back to South Hadley where she now lives. She has lived on the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, but says she feels a profound attachment to the Connecticut. “It’s my home,” she says of the river she has lived on for the last twelve years. She started taking photographs of the river about three years ago. A series of pigment prints created from her digital photographs will be on display in the Corn Barn at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum from July 18 to August 8.

Carpenter’s black and white photos of the Connecticut and its environs depict the river in all four seasons and from varying viewpoints. From high up on Mount Tom or from the dock behind Carpenter’s house in South Hadley, she captures the river’s sweeping bends and its tiny waves. The photos depict both natural and man-made structures along the river, from the curved reflections of tree trunks to the ruins of a mountaintop hotel. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House, located on the river, is an appropriate location for the exhibit, which will be on view during the museum’s open hours, Saturday through Wednesday 1-4:30 p.m. The museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47 North. For further information about the museum and the Corn Barn art exhibit, call (413) 584-4699 or visit www.pphmuseum.org.