All prints are handmade by Peter Ralston on archival rag paper with an archival ink set.

Small Matted Prints - This collection is printed on 8.5 x 11 inch sheets, matted, ready to be framed.

New Work - This open edition is a collection of images created since January 2004. They are printed on 17 x 22 inch sheets.

The Master Prints - This limited edition (LE) print is limited to 50 prints of this image plus ten artist proofs (AP). They are printed on 24 x 36 inch sheets.

Custom sizes of this image are available by special request. 

The story behind The Future

After several years of non-stop work to bring a significant wind farm to Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands, the big day arrived…the commissioning of the three turbines.

Suffice it to say, the long build up to this particular day had resulted in a profound and lovely sense of community ownership in the project, as was fully justified. Space prevents me from going into detail here, but I was deeply moved by the intense pride the islanders had - and still have - in their turbines. It was truly an extraordinary accomplishment and on this day the excitement and pride was palpable.

I had skippered RAVEN over with a number of passengers and we had been trucked up to the site for the dedication festivities. Just as I was approaching turbine #2 I saw this pack of kids and asked them if they wanted to “be famous,” a blatant exaggeration on my part, but we were all very excited that day and I loved what I was seeing through my lens as I made this. They spontaneously mugged it up with their whirligigs and, well, that’s it. Beautiful kids on a very special day…really just a snapshot.

Yet this is a dual purposed title if ever there was one. Sure, the turbines represent the future, but I see the kids themselves as the real future of the islands.

Children are the future of any small community and I think it’s magnificent that these kids have been up-close and personal with such powerful and positive accomplishment in their backyard. It’s hard to imagine a more positive and inspiring lesson for them.

Such beautiful faces, and such positive energy…pun intended.