At the Whim of the Waters ….a true story of a unique American culture and land being lost to the sea.
There is a tiny, remote island in the Chesapeake Bay that straddles the Virginia line. At only 4.5 square miles in size, it is the only inhabited offshore island in Maryland reachable only by boat and it doesn’t carry cars.
Smith Island was charted in 1608 by Capt. John Smith, but later named after Henry Smith. British settlers from Cornwall and Wales originally came to Smith Island to farm beginning about 1659. They grazed livestock and sheep, and grew vegetables in the fertile soil. Today’s inhabitants can trace their genealogy back 13 generations.
In the1800s however, the islanders were forced to turn from the land to the sea, as the surrounding marsh began to encroach on the tiny land mass. At the Whim of the Waters then as they are now, the effects of tidal erosion set into motion a change that defined this unique island culture over the next 200 years. The isolation and self-sufficient spirit of these people has preserved their lineage, evident in customs and a West Country England dialect that still prevails.
Still living much as they did one or even two hundred years ago, islanders still know they can rely on the mutual trust of each other without local governance – there is no police force. Crime here is non-existent. Their island life strongly tied to the cycles and rhythms of nature, astoundingly with Washington DC only 56 miles away as the crow flies.
This exhibit has been nineteen years in the making. It began when I purchased an Island home and its contents that included a trash pile destined to the incinerator. In the trash were boxes of over a hundred nitrate negatives from the 1930s from which this exhibit was born. This collection is the only comprehensive photographic record of this island and people during its heyday. A priceless record of a unique culture to Maryland and the U.S. They are to be treasured for what they tell us about our past and for their documentary and artistic value.
Rollins Tyler, the photographer of these images, was an ancestral Smith Islander. He left working on the water to become a streetcar conductor in Philadelphia. Coming home for vacations, he would take snaps with his box camera of his beloved homeland.
Richard Olsenius, with whom I partnered in the production of these prints, is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker and former photo editor at NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. He also specializes in fine art printing and image restoration. Olsenius’ images are currently represented by the National Geographic Image Collection and AmericanLandscapeGallery.com. Richard has published seven books of photography and also collaborated on a book project with Lake Wobegon creator, Garrison Keillor. In Search of Lake Wobegon, was published in 2001. Richard produced legacy scans of these first 20 nitrate negatives and printed the images shown in this exhibit. The rest of the images from the collection are yet to have preservation work conducted.
This exhibit is grateful for the support of the Sumner T. McKnight Foundation.
Post script:
Most of Smith Island now is just one foot above sea level. The islanders’ homes huddle on the small bits of land that are two to four feet above sea level. During the early 1900s there were almost 1,000 people living on the island. Today it is under 235. Coastal ecologists predict that the Chesapeake Bay has risen more than half a foot during the past century. Some say the last crab shanty on Smith Island will disappear even before the Grand Canal knocks on the door of St. Mark’s in Venice. The inevitable is that by 2100 only a few high spots of grass will be visible above the water, but not much more.
This exhibit honors the journey and contemplates the perils of Smith Island and its keepers.
