Justin introduced himself with a firm handshake. He was leaving a church with his fiancé and small dog, Curly. He tries his best not to escape. First because escape looks different for marginalized communities and, second, because he feels responsibility to protect his community. Nonetheless, he shared that N.K. Jemisin and other afrofuturist novels provide escape, hope, and motivation for him. The first portrait I took of him was stiff. I then asked him to interact with his fiancé and he is pictured here showering her with compliments.

Jonathan was under the gazebo, aiming his phone at his bike strewn on its side nearby. He explained to me that he had tied his bike to the ground, and was waiting for someone to make a fool of themselves attempting to steal it. Next to him is a form to apply for a job - he is 14. When I ask him about escapism, he answers quickly, “I sit and listen to rap music.”

We were in an Irish pub in Portland during a Halloween pub crawl event. Her escape now is crafting (she is working on themes, clay tic-tac-toe boards), but it was previously the “rabbit hole” of drugs, alcohol, and the wrong people. Learning to identify and hold space to feel emotions helped her shift her escape, and vice-versa.

Kylie was a wonderful listener, curious to hear about everyone else’s escapes. Her escape is from a society that does not respect her or her identity, but she has found solace at the woman-owned, feminist cheese farm she now works at. She feels no urge to escape while at the farm. “We’re all just a bunch of powerful women, working, milking goats, eating cheese, doing it all on our own.” She also enjoys eating tasty foods as an escape, which she learned from her mother.

Morgan was enthusiastically leaping down the big staircase. I asked her mother, Leah, about her opinions on escape as a person and as a mother. Leah believes that children naturally escape without needing to rationalize or label their emotions. They might not know the word but do it all the same. Leah herself finds escape in jigsaw puzzles, appreciating the focused attention they demand. Sometimes Leah and Morgan will do puzzles together.

I ran into this couple on Maine Street. Their shoulders were hunched to keep warm and I learned that they moved to Maine from Washington D.C. only two weeks ago. Her escape is to attend classical music concerts, which brings her back to her days dancing ballet. Jim’s escape is reading, which he started to use as an escape in college to avoid school work.

We chatted after a game of ultimate frisbee at a weekend pickup league that she started years ago. She told me that she does not escape anymore. Jenny has built a life full of people, places, and things she loves so that she feels no need to escape.

Patrick was the first person I interviewed for this project. We met outside Curtis Memorial Library, where he was packing his newly check out book The Hatchet into a bag on his motorcycle. His methods of escape are riding his motorcycle and reading fiction. He was, at the moment, escaping from a troubling divorce.

I sat with Jay on this bench as they waited for their ride home from work. Jay’s escape is video games, where “the right thing” is always clear and the worlds are fantastical and exciting. They escape the tedium of their daily life. This bench is also a type of escape for them — a liminal space between home and work.

Alex escapes overwhelming emotions or to-do lists by reading Webtoons or fiction novels in her bed. Her best escape is nature, though, because it leaves her ready to tackle what overwhelmed her in the first place.

In between answers he would munch on an apple. Walking in cemeteries is a primary mode of escape for Martin — it reminds him of mortality and scale.

Marilyn’s boyfriend had recently broken up with her (in public!), and we talked through it together. She uses the library as an escape because she knows she will not see him there. She also described sleep as an escape; he is slowly leaving her dreams.

“I will get through this, but it will take some time. Do I look 71?”

We talked about escapism together as Tori waited to confront her ex-girlfriend. Tori uses abstract painting as her escape. It lets her emotions be fluid, confusing, and honest, without intellectualization.