Back in 1988, right after I enlisted in the Air Force, I bought my first real camera. My grandfather — Pa — was the one who talked me into it. He told me I was about to go places and see things, and I’d want a good camera when I did. Pa had bought his own Canon at Save Rite in Warwick, so that’s where I went too.
He was right — I did travel the world with that camera. But it took me a long time to figure out that the photos I cared about most weren’t the ones from halfway around the globe. They were the ones close to home.
Rhode Island has around 400 miles of coastline once you count every cove, bay, and inlet — the exact number depends on who’s measuring. That’s a lot of shoreline for a state you can drive across in 45 minutes, and it turns out you don’t need to go far to find something worth photographing.
I traveled the world with a camera before I realized how much world there was right outside my door. This page is that realization, mapped out place by place — starting with Rhode Island, which is where the camera actually took me.
Where This Is Headed
Rhode Island isn’t the whole story — just the part that’s finished so far. Over the years I’ve spent real time with a camera in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Myrtle Beach. The Outer Banks. Hunting Island. Edisto Island. The Smoky Mountains.
All places I’ve stood and photographed. All places that deserve the same kind of page Rhode Island is getting — the real spots, the real stories, not just a list of names. They’re coming. This page will grow as they do.