Book offers guide to state’s nautical roots
In her new book, “Connecticut Waters,” photographer Caryn Davis wanted to display how deeply the state is connected with nautical life.
With that in mind, Davis said she photographed various places and subjects, from museums to maritime festivals to sailboat races and lighthouses. With a narrative by Eric Lehman, she said the book serves as a travel guide that she hopes will show people how to reconnect with the water.
Davis said an editor from Globe Pequot Press, which published her book, “A Connecticut Christmas,” asked her about creating the new book.
“I can say that everything in the book was my creation,” she said. “I got to choose what the chapters would be and what the subjects of each chapter would be ... in addition to doing the photography.”
For 15 years, Davis was the Connecticut photographer for Offshore Magazine, she also worked at Mystic Seaport and sailed for years across the globe.
She said she knew about Connecticut’s boating scene and wanted to tell its story.
“I wanted to create a book that had a wide range about our waterways,” she said. “I didn’t want this to be a book about sailing and boating. Everywhere you look in Connecticut, we have water. There’s many different ways that we use those waterways and have used them.”
It took about a year to shoot photos for the book, Davis said, and the quick turnaround required using
some stock photos she had.
Davis said those uses include industry, recreation and education — both in the past and present. She said the water has shaped Connecticut’s culture.
“It’s one of the things that make our state so great,” she said.
Some of her favorite photos in the book, Davis said, are the ones of Five Mile Point Lighthouse in New Haven and one of New London’s coast.
“It’s all about capturing the light, and in those photos it was the right day, right time,” Davis said. “When you’re producing a book, you don’t always have the luxury of choosing the perfect moment all the time.”
Other photos, Davis said, like that of the Freedom Schooner Amistad, had her on a chase boat following the ship as it was on the water.
Davis said working on the book reminded her of the state’s beauty.
“We’re surrounded by all this water and all this nature,” she said. “That has really come through, especially with (the COVID-19 pandemic). Being able to get out into the woods or get out on the water.”
Finding solace in the chaos of the pandemic, Davis said, was made easier through visits to nature. She said she hopes people who read the book are inspired to go out and visit the places it features.