Winter made itself known slowly this year, with only a few light snows by the time the season officially began. By then, some of us were already muttering that Maine winters as we once knew them were over.
That all changed in recent days, with storm after storm blanketing everything in white, and Press Herald photographers were there to chronicle the season’s first big performance.

The best photojournalists carefully observe the world. They notice the most authentic details and bring them to us in ways we are unable to forget.
Photographs by themselves may not be able to change the world or stop a war, but they can pinpoint what we have in common, what’s worth our investment, our hope, our struggle and our fight. They can help us see our surroundings more clearly. They can inspire us to action.
Here we share some of the best of the year from the photographers of the Portland Press Herald.

As November and December days led to the solstice, the darkest evening of the year, Press Herald photographers borrowed from Robert Frost’s famous poem, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,’ to find beauty in the dark and deep.

Our state, looking glorious in the colors of autumn.

In Cape Elizabeth, the Maxwells have been farming the land for nine generations. The Rodriguezes have joined them for the last three.

Maine Maple Sunday is always the fourth Sunday of March, and this is the 39th year of the annual event, which features open sugarhouses throughout the state, farm tours, pancake breakfasts and sales of all kinds of maple products. This year was fully open, after a canceled year in 2020 because of the pandemic, and a modified event in 2021. Maine Maple Sunday is more than just a sales event, though. It’s a harbinger of sweet, sweet spring, after a long, cold winter.

Portraits of winter in Maine by the Press Herald’s photographers