Visions of the Bay

Bodine worked in a romantic, expressive tradition. The image he saw in his head with its shapes and lines, its tones and textures, was more important than the actual scenes he saw in front of him. Bodine always said his job wasn't to take pictures, but to make pictures - and in most cases he wanted to make a picture that looked like an artist's painting. And to do that he was always ready to reshape any scene he found in the field and to restructure any image he took into the darkroom. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about The Art of A. Aubrey Bodine

The year A. Aubrey Bodine died, a little-known photographer named Robert de Gast published The Oystermen of the Chesapeake, an unusual book created with an approach, style, and vision that would prove more influential with future Bay photographers than Bodine’s more famous and artful images. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about The Documentary Eye of Robert de Gast

Like Robert de Gast, Marion E. Warren was not a native of the Chesapeake region. He was born in Montana in a town that no longer exists, and raised around St. Louis, Missouri, where he started his career doing commercial, advertising, medical, and news photography. When he eventually landed in the Chesapeake region as a young photographer, Warren would begin a long-term documentary exploration of its places, its people, and its history. In his later years his work would be driven by a strong sense of environmental mission. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Bringing Back the Bay with Marion E. Warren

It would be his favorite image in his fifth book. On a snowy Maryland morning, David Harp sat in the front of a kayak, gliding up the Choptank River, scanning the shore ahead, holding his camera at the ready. Tom Horton, his writer-collaborator, sat in the back, busy with paddling. In the soft gray distance Harp spotted a great blue heron standing on stick-like legs in the shallows along the shore. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about The Storytelling Vision of David Harp

Fleming was a photographer with a mission: he was committing three years of his life to photographing all the ways men and women harvest seafood out of the Chesapeake Bay. To cover the many forms of Bay fishing, Fleming would have to win access to all kinds of netting, dredging, tonging, trapping, and potting work. He wanted to photograph 20 different commercial-harvesting techniques, including five ways of catching crabs, five ways of hauling up oysters, and six ways of netting finfish. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Working the Water with Jay Fleming

The first publication produced by Maryland Sea Grant featured on its cover a Chesapeake Bay photograph by Robert de Gast. Sea Grant was a new science and outreach program that would focus its early work on understanding the causes of declining fisheries and deteriorating water quality in the Chesapeake. That first cover image by a great photographer was our way of announcing the program's commitment to communicating widely to nontechnical audiences. And that has meant featuring the best photographs we could find or purchase or take ourselves. Here are some more of the talented Bay photographers who helped us maintain that commitment. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about More Bay Photography

Fleming was a photographer with a mission: he was committing three years of his life to photographing all the ways men and women harvest seafood out of the Chesapeake Bay. To cover the many forms of Bay fishing, Fleming would have to win access to all kinds of netting, dredging, tonging, trapping, and potting work. He wanted to photograph 20 different commercial-harvesting techniques, including five ways of catching crabs, five ways of hauling up oysters, and six ways of netting finfish. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Boynton Receives 2016 Mathias Medal

Constance Stuart Larrabee came to the Chesapeake region after an adventurous career as a war correspondent during World War II and a professional photographer in South Africa whose work with the native tribes was widely exhibited in leading museums. Her black-and-white photographs of Tangier Island watermen and residents was collected in a 1982 traveling exhibit called Celebration of the Chesapeake. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Constance Stuart Larrabee

Brown worked part time for Maryland Sea Grant for several years, the black-and-white years when color printing was too expensive, and his artful work gave our early newsletters and magazines a distinctive look. Our first publication to win an award featured his photo essay focused on watermen dredging oysters from the deck of a skipjack under sail. We featured his work in publications, in prints that still line the hallway at the Sea Grant office, and in a photo exhibit at the University of Maryland Student Union. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Skip Brown

A Maryland native, Nick Caloyianias did deep-water filming in oceans around the world before refocusing his energies in recent years on his home waters: the Chesapeake Bay, a shallow-water estuary that presents tricky challenges for any underwater photographer. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Nick Caloyianis

Another Marylander who fell in love with scuba diving, Michael Eversmier began bringing back photographs to educate others about the oysters and crabs and plant life that he was able to see in the often-turbid waters of the Chesapeake Bay. He started learning to scuba dive when he was 16 years old and started teaching it when he was 20. In 1990 he and his wife Maureen began Aqua Ventures, Inc., a business which specializes in scuba training, scuba gear, and dive travel opportunities. As a diver he has explored Atlantic Ocean waters from Maine to Florida and organized dives and shoots in the Caribbean and the South Pacific. As an instructor he has received top teaching awards from Scuba Schools International which also cited him for his contributions to the industry and his impressive number of logged drives. And as an underwater photographer he has captured oyster reef restoration projects for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and his work has been published by the National Aquarium, the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, and Chesapeake Quarterly. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maryland Sea Grant College staff: Director, Fredrika Moser; Assistant Director of Communications, Jeffrey Brainard; Magazine Editor, Michael W. Fincham, Science Writer, Daniel Pendick; Production Editor/Art Director, Nicole Lehming. more . . . about Michael Eversmier