Gregory Rec got his first camera as a Christmas present at age 14 and taught himself photography through his teenage years. At age 22, he began his photojournalism career at a group of weekly newspapers in Connecticut. He went on to study journalism and Spanish at the University of Montana and began working for the Portland Press Herald in 1997.

In his nine years at the Press Herald, Rec has worked on stories throughout Maine and has also traveled extensively for the paper. In 2004, Rec traveled twice to Iraq for the Press Herald to document a Maine National Guard unit stationed there. He lives in Kennebunk with his wife and two children.