CHAPTERS: Michelle Martin

Every (life) chapter has at least one memorable moment, sentence, or story.

and

Dec 05, 2024

Every (life) chapter has at least one memorable moment, sentence, or story. What are yours? In Chapters, I ask creative people to reflect on the stories of their lives and respond to any of the below prompts (in whatever way they wish).

In the latest installment, we hear from

Michelle Martin

—a couples and wedding photographer and the creator of

Literary Leanings

—who shares seasonal stories, resonant reads, and selected photography.

Michelle’s Chapters

I. Slow Story

Some stories grab you, and some stories ask for more from you. As someone who has been part of the internet reading community for over six years, I know that the pressure to read a lot can be ever-present. There are endless book recommendations, more than you could ever hope to get to in a lifetime. But I’ve learned that there is something deeply satisfying about a book that asks you to slow down. A book that lets you savor its words, grapple with its ideas, and take your time. They have become my favorite reading experiences. A few that have gripped me in this way this year are Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, Open Throat by Henry Hoke, and Piglet by Lottie Hazell. I read them slowly, taking my time to soak them in, and thus, they turned into some of my most satisfying reading experiences of the year.

II. Short Story

I worked in an office for many years before I became self-employed as a full-time photographer. When I lived in New York City, my office was near Riverside Park, so I’d take my lunch to the park on nice days and dip into a short story. Karen Russell is one of my favorite short story writers, and I have a vivid memory of reading her collection, Orange World, while in the park on those perfect, warm early summer days in 2019. I love that her writing is dreamy and strange but still so modern. Those stories would wile away my lunch break too quickly but also give me the boost I needed to return to my desk for the afternoon. Shortly after reading that collection, I read her other two collections and haven’t stopped recommending them since.

III. Summer Story

Summer is the season we wait for all year long here in New England. It's fleeting but wonderful (though I argue that all seasons have their charms here). The colors come alive, and it's a joy to be outside every day. It's also my favorite reading season, with vacations and long stretches of time perfect for burying your phone at the bottom of your bag and getting lost in a good story. Being a photographer, I couldn't resist sharing a story in photos.

IV. Winter Story

Three winters ago, my husband, Dean, and I pulled up to a snowy cabin nestled in the woods on one of the peninsulas that juts into the Gulf of Maine, where we would spend the next five weeks. We were at a crossroads in life; we knew we wanted to leave New York City but weren’t sure where to land next. We were trying out a few weeks in different places that were contenders. Maine has always called to us; we spent many weekends here when we lived in Boston, and I spent several summer vacations here. Our family and friends thought we were crazy for coming to spend five weeks in Maine in the dead of winter. But it was a magical five weeks. The house had a wall of sliding glass doors that spanned the living room and kitchen and looked out into the snowy woods. We kept the fire burning daily, and I spent days curled up next to it with our cat, reading or working. We bundled up and explored the seaside trails and surrounding small towns. We permanently moved here six months later. We thought if we could love a place so much in the middle of what’s supposed to be the most challenging season, we could love it year-round. And so far, it’s been true.

V. Travel Story

In 2016, we spent ten days in Ireland for our honeymoon with a stopover in Iceland. We had the best time on that trip, and it remains one of my favorites. We planned to travel around Ireland during our time there, hoping to see both city life and the countryside. We spent a few days in Dublin, walking endless miles, visiting bookshops, and enjoying morning tea and afternoon pints. That trip exposed me to my first Irish authors after carrying a big stack of Irish authors out of Hodges Figgis, which eventually grew into my love of Irish fiction. After that, we drove across the country through farmland to spend a few nights in a cottage in the same county my maternal grandmother's family is from. My grandmother passed the year before, so it felt special to see the place she always wanted to visit but didn't have the chance to. It was early June and unseasonably warm for them (at 75 degrees). The local folks we met kept commenting on the heatwave, which had us laughing. We went for many walks along the Irish coast, got slightly sunburned, and ended the trip with a night in Galway, a treasure of a small city.

VI. Their Story

In life, we have so few big days solely for celebrating with our people. A wedding day is one of those days, and I'm so grateful that for the last three years, my full-time job has been documenting those days for people. I’m a natural observer—which is why I’m drawn to the camera. To me, there is nothing better than being able to flip through a box of photos and relive a moment, a memory, or a feeling. I love telling a couple's love story; in a world with a lot of bad news every day, it's a joy to be part of something good. Wedding days are such interesting anthropological studies for me. I take a documentary approach to the day, and I love witnessing the family dynamics unfold, the happy tears, the emotions swell, and all the small moments (those are my absolute favorites). Capturing the day for couples and handing it over as a visual story that will live on for generations to come in their family is such an honor.

VII. Funny Story

My family lives in Connecticut, so we often have to travel around the holidays. We pack the car, stop for coffee, and settle in for the drive. Those long drives in traffic are always made better by good stories, preferably funny ones. Two of these have become an annual tradition to listen to when we're making the drive full of eager anticipation of spending time with family. Several years ago, Dean and I listened to an episode of The Dinner Party Download where comedian Matt Walsh shared about an Easter tradition his father started that he wanted to pass down to his children, with hilariously disastrous effects. I won't say more because it is an absolutely delightful story that had both of us crying from laughing so hard, and it's now one we listen to every year as we make the drive for Easter weekend. And around this time of year, we listen to David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries. I love hearing other people tell the story of their holiday memories and traditions; this one is tender, hilarious, and nostalgic.

VIII. Michelle’s Story

Michelle is a book-loving photographer living on the coast of Maine. After living in Boston and New York City, Michelle settled down on the coast of Maine in 2021 with her husband and two cats. She is a full-time couples and wedding photographer. She also writes a weekly best-selling Substack newsletter, Literary Leanings, where she shares her love of books and reading. Beyond photography and reading, she loves long bike rides, prefers the Monday crosswords to the Sunday ones, enjoys day trips up the coast, and always seeks out the nearest bookstore when traveling.