Evangeline : A Modern Tale of Acadia

Evangeline is a photographic exploration of Nova Scotia, Canada, directly inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow''s 1847 epic poem about the historic Expulsion of the Acadians. Today, the proud presence of Acadian heritage on the shores of the Bay of Fundy is unmistakable in Mark Marchesi''s soft, pastel images of churches, Acadian flags, and unique architecture. But the region''s population is dwindling, and the culture that struggled against the New World British influence is again losing ground. Marchesi eloquently portrays this gradual exodus of the Acadian people from rural Nova Scotia in haunting landscapes of empty seaports and abandoned Victorian properties.

This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it
Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman?
Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers,
Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands,
Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of heaven?

Mark Marchesi received a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art in 1999. He was a winner of Jen Bekman Projects''s popular photography competition Hey, Hot Shot in 2007, and has been awarded three Maine Arts Commission project grants.