Tangier Island, Virginia, and Smith Island, Maryland, are communities inextricably connected to the Chesapeake Bay. Although a boat ride of less than 15 minutes separates these island communities from the mainland, centuries of isolation have helped preserve their unique way of life. They are the last inhabited offshore islands in the Chesapeake Bay and feel worlds apart from the life most of us know.
Enjoy a visual narrative by author and photographer Jay Fleming that explores their environment, communities, and commercial fisheries. The program reveals the beauty and the peril of a life dependent on the rhythms of the tide and the harvest of the Chesapeake Bay.
Fleming has spent his career chronicling the unique people and places of the Chesapeake Bay. In recent years he has felt a sense of urgency to document the islands’ iconic working waterfronts, as the very forces that sustained them also threaten to take them away.
Fleming’s book Island Life (Jay Fleming Photography LLC) is available for purchase.
Book Sale Information
Patron Information
- If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
- Unless otherwise noted, registration for online programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
- Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
- Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
- View Common FAQs about our online programs presented on Zoom.
