In February, Freeport-based photographer Michelle Antoinette was mulling over ways to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8 when she received some inspiration from a friend.
Antoinette owns Antoinette Photography with her wife, Chelsea. They primarily photograph weddings. During the offseason, she decided to photograph a series of women working in male-dominated professions, including Angela Coron, a sternman on a lobster boat out of Lookout Point.
“We’re good friends with Ange, and she brought two other (women lobstermen) along with her for the photo shoot,” Antoinette said in an interview. “Basically, (the idea) was finding these jobs that people would typically only see a male doing, but women are showing up and doing them just as hard.”
All three women featured in the portrait series, titled “Lobsterwomen,” fish out of Harpswell. They include Coron, a Harpswell resident who works for David Moody, captain of the Britannica.
The other women are Amy Ulrickson and Tonya Brooks. Ulrickson works as a sternman for her father, Andy Ulrickson, aboard the Amy Beth. Brooks works as a sternman for Jim Barclay aboard the Lina Rose. The Ulricksons fish out of Lookout Point, while Brooks and Barclay fish out of Whidden Lobster, near Clark Cove.
In an interview, Coron said she loves working on a lobster boat. Her first experience with the fishery came as a child when she stayed with a family member who was also hosting a lobsterman.
“He needed help for the summer, and he had a lobster boat, and I worked for him for the whole summer,” she said.
Coron is now married with two kids, 10-year-old Elizabeth and 13-year-old Sebastian, who regularly accompany her on the boat. Her husband, Josh, who is not a lobsterman, has been “very accommodating” of her profession, Coron added.
“He has gone out a few times, and he loves it,” she said. “It’s peaceful and honest work.”
Coron said she initially felt pressure to prove herself as a woman in a male-dominated industry. But once she became a regular out on the water, people started treating her like anyone else.
“You have to go in knowing you might be scoffed at,” she said.
Brooks said the lobstering life involves a lot of early mornings, long days and strenuous work. She usually starts around 5 or 6 a.m. and often doesn’t finish until 4 p.m. She fishes year-round, usually working one or two days a week in the winter and four or five days a week in the warmer seasons.
“It’s go, go, go the second you get out there, if you want to get done at a decent time,” she said in an interview.
Brooks said she doesn’t work directly with Coron or Ulrickson, but she is always happy to see them out on the water or at the docks. There’s a certain camaraderie among women in a male-dominated field, she said.
“When you’re a woman working down there, you kind of find the like-minded women,” Brooks said. “It’s good to have them down there. They’re very hardworking.”
According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, about 9% of commercial fishing license holders in Maine are women, up from 5% in 2020. But women often contribute to the industry in ways that aren’t counted in statistics — as crew members, bookkeepers and other onshore support workers.
Brooks is working to obtain her own license and said she would like to see more women enter the profession. “But it is a hard job, and if you don’t have the mental side of it, it’s hard to stick it out,” she said.
Both Coron and Brooks said they enjoyed the experience of being photographed and were thrilled with Antoinette’s photos.
“They came out awesome,” Brooks said. “I’m very happy with how she did it.”
