Summertime in America’s Backyard

In 1980, the photographer Stephen A. Scheer received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship to complete his series The Maples, which was originally published in Aperture’s summer 1983 issue, and subsequently collected in a monograph published by Blue Sky Books in 2016. Here, we look back at Scheer’s portfolio in the magazine.

These photographs were made during the summer of 1979 in a small residential community outside Shelton, Connecticut. The name of the community is The Maples, and it covers a stretch of land about one mile long on the banks of the Housatonic River.

The residents have always liked to think of themselves as river people, and my intention was to document their style of life through color photography.

Summertime seemed to bring out the most of what could be seen at The Maples. The people reunited with the natural surroundings, and their activity was refreshingly uninhibited and festive. I was particularly drawn to the way people adorned themselves and their surroundings, according to their age group and generation.

This article was originally published in Aperture, issue 91, Summer 1983.