Ben McCanna has been a staff photographer and occasional writer at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram since 2015 and has been working for newspapers since 2010.
Ben studied creative writing and literature at Emerson College and embarked on a decade-long career in publishing after graduating in 1997. In his mid 30s, Ben shifted careers by taking a job as a reporter at a small newspaper in northwest Colorado and never looked back. Over the years, he slowly transitioned from writer to photographer - his true passion.
Ben is a 2018 winner of an Award of Excellence from Pictures of the Year International. He lives on Peaks Island with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and two sons.
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PublishedMay 3, 2021
In photos: Scenes of April give way to flowers of May
Our photographers capture the dreary and the glorious of April before it finally yields to the sunshine of true spring.
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PublishedMarch 15, 2021
In photos: Let there be light
Daylight saving time started again on Sunday, leading to dreams of those long summer nights in Maine, when the sun doesn’t set until after 8 p.m. There’s a bipartisan bill in Congress now, called the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, sponsored by politicians as different as U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., that would make DST permanent. If it passes, we would not switch our clocks back in the fall. Meanwhile, Press Herald photographers took advantage of our lengthening days to look for beautiful light.
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PublishedFebruary 22, 2021
In photos: A winter wonderland just outside your door
It’s February, it’s cold, we’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic (as if you could forget) and that spells cabin fever. So here are some photos to remind you of the many ways that Maine is a perfect place to be living through this. It’s a winter wonderland just outside your door.
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PublishedFebruary 8, 2021
In photos: Mittens and Mainers, what’s not to love?
Warm woolen mittens are one of our favorite things, and they got special attention when Sen. Bernie Sanders wore them, sitting in a folding chair looking grumpy, at President Biden’s inauguration. Sanders’ mien and mittens, in the photo by photographer Brendan Smialowski, went viral, making the Twitter universe, and many others, happy for many cold winter days. The mittens were famously given to Sanders by Vermonter Jen Ellis, a former Mainer. Ellis learned to sew at Mahoney Middle School in South Portland, taught by home economics teacher Jeannette Collett. Here are a few Mainers with their mittens, including Collett, who is wearing her very own pair of Jen Ellis mittens.
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PublishedDecember 21, 2020
In photos: Lighting up the night
The winter solstice, the day with the fewest hours of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, takes place at 5:02 a.m. Dec. 21. The long nights of a pandemic have been made beautiful, though, with holiday lights throughout our cities and towns. Many people put their displays up earlier than usual this year as a way to bring joy and help dispel the gloom of a difficult year. Press Herald photographers recorded some of the colorful beauty.
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PublishedNovember 16, 2020
In photos: The week COVID-19 surged in Maine
It’s been predicted since the beginning of the pandemic, and last week it was clear as the number of coronavirus infections grew sharply.
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PublishedNovember 9, 2020
In photos: A look back at historic Election Day 2020 in Maine
Press Herald photographers fanned out to record voters and candidates in an election that saw a record turnout.
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PublishedOctober 26, 2020
Consider the lowly gull: A photo essay
Gulls are often maligned as “rats of the sky,” but is that assessment warranted? Isn’t there beauty in their plaintive calls? Aren’t they as evocative of the coast as salt air, foghorns, bell buoys, lobster boats and lighthouses?
Or are they simply too common, too messy and too pushy to deserve our admiration?
Gulls, love them or hate them, are smart, fascinating, even beautiful, as our gallery shows. Just don’t call them seagulls. Birders will tell you there is no such animal. -
PublishedSeptember 21, 2020
Apple-picking time, a fall tradition in Maine, has arrived
An apple a day really can help keep the doctor away, and even during a pandemic, apple picking can be a healthy outdoor activity, with masks and precautions in place.
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PublishedAugust 24, 2020
Photos: Heavy metal music and a midlife crisis
With Portland’s music venues closed because of the pandemic, now seems like the right time to revisit what feels like a bygone era.
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