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Details of fish scales, fins and eyes shot on the water almost immediately after the specimen was pulled out of the water. When focusing on such a small part of a fish, it is easy to become mesmerized with the patterns and colors. Shooting with a Marco lens (60mm) that has such a narrow field of view can be a challenge from a moving boat. A selection of these images that are featured in the bottom portion of this post were originally published by Anglers Journal magazine in the spring of 2016.
The cover of Volume 14 of the Delmarva Review features a photograph of crab shanties in Tangier Island’s mailboat harbor at dusk .
A thoughtful and thorough review of Island Life by writer and publisher Wilson Wyatt that originally appeared in the Delmarva Review . Wyatt’s annual publication is a literary journal dedicated to the discovery and publication of compelling new fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from emerging and established writers of all backgrounds.
Copies of the Volume 14 (2021) of the Delmarva Review are available for purchase.
PHOTOGRAPHS MARK OUR EXISTENCE IN TIME; the camera becomes a clock for seeing, to borrow from Roland Barthes in Camera Lucida. About a dozen years ago, photographer Jay Fleming began a quest to document Chesapeake Bay life on two of the last inhabited islands in the Bay—Smith Island, Maryland and Tangier Island, Virginia—the focus of his latest narrative photography book, Island Life.
Island Life is an important contribution to building an understanding of Chesapeake Bay life— now and in the future, above and below the surface. Smith and Tangier islands are surrounded by and dependent on the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary* in the United States and one of the five largest in the world. I recommend Fleming’s book for its beauty as well as its living narrative about the history and current life of this region and its place on our planet.
Fleming has a passion for photography and life on the water. Having photographed the last house on Holland Island, months before its collapse into the Chesapeake, in 2010 (p. 54), and photographing life on the bay for his first book, Working the Water (2016), he began a serious journey to document-in-time life on the islands featured in this book.
...I was motivated by a deep desire to capture a moment in time for these incredible islands, as the very forces that sustain them also threaten to take them away.
The book is divided into three sections: Island Scape, Way of Life, and Harvest. Together, they tell stories about Tangier Island, Smith Island, islands of the past, wildlife, and even life underwater. As he worked on this book, he became familiar with the people who live on the islands....their communities, strong sense of identity and public service, religion, education, their work, food, hunting, and how they approach health care, and off- island jobs from such a remote region. The Harvest section describes the economic and human requirements of running family businesses built on fisheries, harvesting crabs, oysters, and other seafood—dependent on long hours of commitment, all at the mercy of nature, through the seasons. The ending is, appropriately, “the blessing of the fleet.”
This book captures a pivotal moment in time for Smith and Tangier, documenting the ways their culture and environment are shaped by isolation from the mainland and the forces of the Chesapeake Bay.
In addition to his photography business, he developed a series of photographic workshops to lead interested amateur photographers to the islands capturing images of “the abundant wildlife, beautiful landscapes, and iconic working waterfronts and watermen.”
Fleming renovated an old 22-foot center console fishing boat to navigate the waters for the workshops. Over the years, since his last book, he and his workshop explorers interacted with the island inhabitants and the surrounding natural environment. The stories of the islanders are authentic and personal, far different than what a reader might expect from a photo book.
As he became familiar with the islander families, he developed a deep understanding of the changes to the islands due to climate change and associated sea-rise. To be precise, however, the book is not a treatise on climate change. Fleming leaves that realization to the reader. Instead, the book’s photos and narration document the uniqueness of island life, in time, with caring attention to detail and the human passion that weds the islanders to a life dependent on the surrounding bay
For those readers who enjoy photography, Fleming’s 271 images (most in color) will treat readers to fine landscapes, seascapes, sunsets, sunrises, and vessels and watermen at sea, under various climate conditions. The images also reveal the unique island life on land, with diminishing shorelines. Some images are touching—some are surprising. He includes artistic underwater photographs, as well as seascapes. For “foodies,” there are even photos showing the construction of Smith Island cakes.
If you treasure the Chesapeake, Island Life belongs on your history shelf or coffee table. It is bound to increase your knowledge and appreciation of Chesapeake life and this unique place on Earth.
ISLAND LIFE, by Jay Fleming
©2021 - Jay Fleming, 280 pages, 271 photographs, ISBN 978-0-9977468-1-5
In reflecting back on the past year, I am immensely grateful for the experiences I had in 2021. Thank you all for the continued support - I am looking forward to more adventures in 2022! Scroll through the blog post below to see the highlights:
Island Life was released in early November after more than 10 years of shooting. Island Life is a visual narrative of the environment, communities and commercial fisheries of Smith Island, Maryland and Tangier Island, Virginia — the last inhabited offshore islands in the Chesapeake Bay. Although less than 15 miles of water separate Smith and Tangier from the mainland, centuries of isolation have preserved the unique way of life of these island communities, making them feel worlds apart from the life most of us know.
Since my first trip to the islands in 2009, I have seen remarkable changes to the islands’ landscape and communities. Cemeteries are washing into the water, acres of marshland are disappearing and the populations are in decline. I felt a sense of urgency to document the islands’ iconic working waterfronts, as the very forces that sustain them also threaten to take them away.
Equal parts informative and aesthetically pleasing, Island Life reveals the beauty and the perils of a life dependent upon the rhythms of the tide and the harvest of the Chesapeake Bay.
Island Life was delivered to my studio in Stevensville, Maryland on November 2nd after being printed in Italy and transported by cargo ship across the Atlantic Ocean. Preorders that were placed earlier in the year were shipped out first and orders. that came in during the holiday season followed. During the two months, my team and I shipped out more than 2600 packages to destinations throughout the country! In less than two months, nearly 90% of the first printing of the book sold via online ordering, to retail stores up and down the east coast and during in person events. I anticipate the first printing to sell out within the next two months. Copies are still available for purchase using the link below.
I hosted more than 100 photographers on day trips and multi day trips out of seven different locations. For more information on my 2022 workshops, click on the link below
Restoration and repower of my 18’ Privateer Bay Boat. I use this boat for my photography outings and for small group workshops. The restoration was done by Chris Marshall, owner of the Smith Island Dry Dock in Rhodes Point, Maryland. I also added another boat to the ‘Fleming Fleet’, a 24’ Privateer Renegade which is in the process of being restored. Once work on the boat is completed, it will be used to host larger groups for my workshops and will be used during the winter months.
On the tail end of my trip to Maine and Canada, I hosted a four day workshop on Vinalhaven Island with a small group of photographers. Vinalhaven is an incredible location to photograph an authentic working waterfront. I had visited the island in 2018 while shooting the seafood industry in Maine and was able to make connections within the fishing community. The island is home to a thriving fleet of 100+ lobster boats that haul traps in the surrounding waters of Penabscott Bay and the Gulf of Maine. I knew that Vinalhaven would be a perfect location for a workshop similar to those that I run on Smith and Tangier Islands.
Thanks to this group for joining me on this 'test' trip - I plan on doing two during the Fall of 2022!
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