It defies imagination to ponder just how many hundreds of hours Cameron Davidson spent aloft looking for the images in this beautiful book. He takes us there with him: at every hour of the day, every season, in every kind of beautiful light. It’s a ticket to the Chesapeake you definitely won’t have a chance to visit yourself, so go with Cameron. It’s a great trip.
To call Cameron an aerial photographer is an injustice. His work is bold, colorful and always has a strong sense of design. It just so happens that his favorite point of view is from the air which adds awe to his otherwise incredible work. Above all he also has immense passion and all of this is evident in his project that has finally come to fruition on the Chesapeake Bay. This is definitely a book for the coffee table to view over and over.
Through seasoned and sensitive eyes, Cameron Davidson takes us on a visual journey over the watershed of Chesapeake Bay. With images both singular in their individual power and cumulative in their impact, we see a world where nature is strongly impacted and marked by the hand of humankind. Grand vistas take our breath away and give us context. Abstract details compel us to look at things we may not see or understand from our daily gravity-defined perspectives. Davidson’s vision is a gift to us all — one to savor, but also one to serve as a call to action.
Cameron’s Davidson’s Chesapeake is a monumental book of aerial photography
that pays homage to the largest estuary in the United States. A watershed area where
fresh waters and ocean meet, and home to countless species of animals and plants,
the Chesapeake Bay is at the center of an area of extraordinary beauty as well as
a potential ground zero for environmental disaster.
Davidson’s photographs soar in their emotional theatricality, as he shows us a garden of eden all too long ignored. These images are a testament to Earth’s beauty first shown us by the astronauts of Apollo 8, and now so hauntingly captured in close-up by a photographer who is a wizard of the medium.
Flipping through the pages of Chesapeake by Cameron Davidson, is to be aloft, nearly weightless and experiencing a bird’s-eye view of these spectacular landscapes. Davidson,a master of aerial photography, takes the reader into the skies of this diverse region and on a guided tour of one stunning scene after another, from snow covered rivers to meandering rivers to vibrant cities. It is a view of places often seen, but never quite like this. A true visual treat!
Chesapeake is a labor of love, and it shows. This is a beautiful book.
Cameron Davidson captures the Chesapeake Bay that is unseen by most people –
from high above. Using incredible light and nature’s atmospherics the
photographs jump off the page, looking three dimensional at times. From his
unique perch Cameron’s images draw the viewer into the functionality,
fragility, and enduring beauty of this unique geographical region.
Every page in Cameron Davidson’s “Chesapeake” is a rich treasure: in addition to being a delight to behold, the compendium of sumptuous aerial imagery enhances our understanding of this sprawling, complex watershed. The book is a remarkable accomplishment.
Cameron’s stunning aerial photography has always made me want to jump
in a helicopter and hang out the open door at 1000 feet. Luckily,
since I’m slightly afraid of heights, this book allows me to enjoy
that feeling from the safety of my living room.
Cameron Davidson has taken his vision for a better world to new heights with his latest book – Chesapeake. His stunning visuals provide amazing insights into the beauty and wonder of the Chesapeake bay region. Cameron has taken flight to show the fancy and the mysterious; the awesome power of the water, and the flora and fauna as never before been seen. Even seasoned pilots would be amazed at how Cameron has brought his incredible talent as a photographer to this project and turned what could be boring aerial shots into luxurious portraits of this under appreciated part of the world. What has been clearly a labor of love for many many years now can educate and enlighten you to the wonderment of the Chesapeake.
John Harrington
Past President, White House News Photographers Association
One can immediately see the immense effort to produce such a volume.
The result is a wonderful coexistence of beautifully composed
fine art- and documentary photography on a very high level.
“Aerial photography never fails to impress me – but if a master like Cameron enters the helicopter with his camera he will take timeless masterpieces that leaves me speechless. I can´t figure out how he is able to compose his meticulously framed images in flight. But every image is a subtly balanced symphony of light, colour and composition. I would love to join Cameron on a flight over the Chesapeake Bay – and the book is the next best thing to it.”
It is difficult enough to photograph the essence of a place with one’s feet on the ground, yet while hovering above the Earth Cameron Davidson has exquisitely portrayed the light, mood and seasons of the Chesapeake landscape These images are testimony to a master artist at work and play.
“Cameron Davidson’s Chesapeake is a book that simultaneously serves as a definitive document on the the Chesapeake Bay Watershed region, and abstract topographical masterpiece. Cameron takes us on a tour of the region in a helicopter at 500 feet, and shows us intimate detail in every crevasse, and magic in every reflection. This book is a treasure.”
As long as I have known Cameron, he has had a passion for the Chesapeake Bay. This passion is clearly expressed in his gorgeous and lush aerial photographs of tributaries, rivers and the great body of water, which makes up the Chesapeake Bay watershed. From the air, Cameron shows not only the natural history but the economic legacy of the bay; the fishermen, the Bay Bridge Tunnel, coastal beaches, even the industrial ports of Norfolk and Baltimore, all shown beautifully and graphically. These images can be found in Cameron’s newest book: “Chesapeake”. I was raised in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which hugs the lower end of the Bay before it empties out into the Atlantic Ocean. I have great memories of my young life near and on the Bay. If anyone wanted to share those memories with me, I would give them “Chesapeake”. Through Cameron’s photography, they will understand why I and others touched by the Bay also have a great passion for it.
I’ve admired Cameron Davidson’s beautiful aerial images for a number of years. In ‘Chesapeake’ the superb photographs are supplemented by fascinating text and a book design that greatly enhances this visual poem about a landscape formed by water and it’s diverse interfaces with the man-made world.
Author of Spacelands, Winner of the 2009 Brilliant Book Award
Cameron Davidson | Chesapeake 