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This
project had its genesis in 1973 when filmmaker Tony Donovan met woodsman Amos
Congdon who at that time was 74. In the spring of 1974 he began working at
Mr. Congdon's sawmill in preparation for his next piece of film work. While
working for the family, Mr. Donovan made photographs of Amos Congdon and his
sons - the results of which illustrate these pages.
In 1978 Mr. Donovan went on to author and create a documentary film on the Congdon family. His purpose was to document and creatively interpret Amos Congdon as a symbol of the American spirit and to document a still vital way of life, that is, a small family industry and its place in the community.
Recently, Mr. Donovan broached the idea with us of publishing a piece he had written on Mr. Congdon as well as some of his poetic photographs of the sawmill in the Council's print publication, Calendar of Ideas. After mulling it over, we decided that our website would be a much better medium for publication since we would not have to be constrained by physical pages and could give his photographs and essay their full reign.
Mr. Donovan's admiration and respect for Mr. Congdon is evident. We hope you enjoy his striking imagery as much as we do. To see more photos, please click here.