About

ALISON LANGLEY

The influence of my father’s love for photography and film and the inspiration from my family's early travels led me to study film at NYU. After a year and a half of living and studying in NYC, I transferred to Rhode Island School of Design to study what I truly loved – photography. Itching to travel and start my life, I moved to Sydney Australia, where I worked for FLIX Animation, a film animation/special effects studio. I spent all of my spare time sailboarding off Pittwater and briefly attempted crewing on an 18-foot skiff in Sydney. That was my first taste of sheeting in, getting bruises, and sailing hard.

After four years working in film production, I changed course to pursue a professional career at sea. For the next six years, I first crewed as a cook on Eye of the Wind, a 130 ft. Brigantine, followed by a Swan 651 (Frers Design) and a Swan 57 (S&S Design). We sailed throughout the North and South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean, which included Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Madagascar, Cocos Keeling, and Chagos, to name a few. It was here that my love for nautical photography took hold, and my photographs and accompanying stories were published in sailing and travel magazines around the world.

Upon returning to the US, I was introduced to nautical photographer Onne van der Wal and Stock Newport, a stock photo agency that specialized in nautical images. I was fortunate to work for Onne for 6 years, as the manager of the agency, before venturing out on my own as a freelance photographer.

A pivotal moment for my career came when I photographed my first Eggemoggin Reach Regatta in Brooklin, Maine. Over a hundred wooden and classic boats come to this event every summer and sail for three days of racing around the islands of Maine. I became instantly captured by the culture and beauty of this wood boat scene and soon moved to Midcoast Maine to be amongst some of the finest wooden boats in the world. Never have I felt more at home.

I still travel far and wide, shooting both video and stills, as I strive to fully capture the moments of each nautical journey in a unique and compelling way, but I will always call Maine my home.

JANE KURKO

I grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. After moving to Ohio in the late 1980s, I joined an artist collective and began showing my art photography at group shows and galleries. During that time, I was introduced to graphic design as I took a job managing a family-owned print shop. Discovering this medium for my artistic endeavors led down a new career path, designing printed materials with strong visual elements of photography. In 2006, I seized an opportunity to move to Maine to work for a design firm as their client services manager. Soon tasked with hiring a photographer to shoot a custom research vessel, I chose Alison, and our working relationship began. 

In 2008, Alison asked me to join Langley Photography. Ever since, I’ve worn many hats as studio manager, graphic designer, and second shooter. For more than a decade, Alison and I have been working side by side as visual storytellers, producing books, films and images for clients around the world.