Gorham resident, John Tiedje (pronounced Tee-Gee), will be showing a number of his photographs at the Stier Gallery in the Thomas Memorial Library (TML) in Cape Elizabeth during the month of September. The Gallery will be open during library hours, Monday through Saturday. Check TML’s schedule online, as their daily hours vary.

Tiedje’s photographs have been featured in various shows and recognized with notable awards including Photographer’s Forum Best of Photography Award of Excellence in 2016. He is a member of the Photographic Society of America and Creatives Group of Portland, Maine.

For Tiedje, who has worked some 40 years in the field of Graphic Arts, his black and white photographs are a continuation of his sense of design. He said, “Black and white photography has a more graphic representation of an image. It is a step back from the realism that color photography has.”

He looks for images that are straight forward in design or texture. For that reason, he loves the Maine landscape and actually enjoys the stark winters. Tiedje said, “Snow is beautiful … it offers a photographer who likes to shoot in black and white, some stunning graphic images.”

It’s possible that Tiedje’s Danish roots also inform his minimalistic style. His Danish ancestors settled on a farm in Iowa in the 1800’s.

Tiedje comes by his talent naturally. He is from a family of artists. “My grandmother and mother painted. My sister also has a graphic design degree,” he said.

As a child, he enjoyed drawing superheroes and sports cars and then decided to become a graphic designer in High School in Charlotte, N.C. He earned BFA in Advertising and Graphic Design from East Carolina University School of Art and Design.

In 2019, Tiedje retired as a Designer and Art Director at an advertising agency, located in the greater Portland area, where he created ad campaigns, graphic identity programs and TV commercials. He is now able to spend more time launching his next career, in photography, by entering contests and looking for a variety of places to show his work.

Tiedje and his wife, Cameron, moved to Gorham from Atlanta in 2000 after coming to Bangor for her sister’s wedding. “August in Maine vs August in Atlanta sold us on moving here,” Tiedje said. He added that Gorham was a good choice for them because it is close to Portland, the airport and the interstate.

Tiedje will be teaching the Adobe Creative Suite: inDesign, illustrator and Photoshop classes with the Gorham Adult Education program this winter. More information can be found on the Gorham Adult Education website.

Cameron and John live in the Bridle Path neighborhood. She has been working at WEX in the Global Fraud Department for about 16 years. In their leisure time, they enjoy camping, hiking, gardening and sampling the excellent cuisine in the area. One of their favorite things to do is take a book to Two Lights State Park and listen to the waves as they read.

Tiedje’s work can be viewed on his website at johndesignx.com. You can order a print with a frame here. John can be reached at johndesignx@gmail.com.