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OceThe OFFiciala MaganZineog OF the Oceanographyra Spocietyhy CITATION Dybas, C.L. 2012. Ripple marks—The story behind the story.Oceanography 25(1):8–11, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.31. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.31 COPYRIGHT This article has been published inOceanography , Volume 25, Number 1, a quarterly journal of The Oceanography Society. Copyright 2012 by The Oceanography Society. All rights reserved. USAGE Permission is granted to copy this article for use in teaching and research. Republication, systematic reproduction, or collective redistribution of any portion of this article by photocopy machine, reposting, or other means is permitted only with the approval of The Oceanography Society. Send all correspondence to: [email protected] or The Oceanography Society, PO Box 1931, Rockville, MD 20849-1931, USA. doWnloaded From http://WWW.tos.org/oceanography Ripple Marks The Story Behind the Story BY CHERYL LYN DYbas A River Raged Through It: Through the Lens of Vermont’s In-Sight Photography Project, A Confluence of Art and Science Torrential rains from Hurricane Irene in and Round Mountains. It gathers force of Photography at Vermont’s Marlboro August 2011 closed northeastern US parks from Halladay and Ames Hill Brooks, sluices College. He was recently awarded a and wilderness areas, washed out roads, through West Brattleboro and Brattleboro Guggenheim Fellowship for his contributions swept away homes and businesses, and and—after dropping 380 meters in eleva- to the art world. changed the face of interior New England. tion in just 11 kilometers—empties into Two decades ago, he co-founded In-Sight They also brought people together, from the Connecticut River at a mere 75 meters with Vermont resident Bill Ledger. “We scientists who study flooding, to citizens of above sea level. conceived of it as a way of fostering sustain- Northeast river towns, to photographers The Whetstone Brook watershed covers able cities and towns, and encouraging their who captured the storm in all its havoc and almost 72 square kilometers in southern citizens to develop a sense of place, and beauty. Near—and in—the Connecticut Vermont. Whetstone, as its cutting-stone of self, through photography,” says Willis. River’s overflowing tributaries stood the name suggests, and its tributaries have sliced “Photography is a wonderful means of artists of the In-Sight Photography Project in straight down into granite bedrock to form understanding one’s own and other commu- Brattleboro, Vermont. Their vantage point has narrow waterways. But bucolic flats along nities.” In recent years, In-Sight’s efforts have set, literally and figuratively, new high water their bends beckon kayakers and canoeists, expanded from Vermont to states across marks for art and for science. swimmers and hikers and birders. the country. Since the project’s beginning Usually. 20 years ago, a river of several thousand Deep in the Green Mountains that ring The brook John Willis saw on the morning students has flowed through its doors. Brattleboro, Vermont, rises Whetstone of August 28, 2011, was a whetstone gone In-Sight offers teenagers from ages 11 to 18 Brook. It springs to life more than four and wild. “It was a raging river,” says Willis, the opportunity to learn photography—from half meters above sea level, in Hidden Lake “pure whitewater.” the mechanics of how a camera lens works on the flanks of Central Mountain. Out of Willis is the In-Sight Photography to developing an artist’s eye—regardless of Hidden Lake and along Church Hollow Road Project’s Executive Director and a Professor their ability to pay for classes and equipment. the brook cascades. A sharp right turn, and the Whetstone parallels Vermont Route 9, BELOW LEFT | View of flooded Flat Street from Elliot Street, downtown Brattleboro, VT. Photo credit: Christina flowing by MacArthur Road and Hamilton Bernales. BELOW MIDDLE | View of Whetstone Brook during the 2011 flooding.Photo credit: Annie Flanagan. Road and threading between Richardson BELOW RIGHT | Route 9 eroded by flooding of the Whetstone.Photo credit: Ferne Johansson 8 Oceanography | Vol. 25, No. 1 Courses cover such topics as introduction to brook to a river to a watershed. the shutter. Through photography, In-Sight’s black and white photography; digital photog- “River is a beautiful word, beloved for the students learn about the world around raphy; social activism and photography; and lyrical impetus of those magic two syllables,” them—from the local to the global.” people, places, and things. writes W.D. Wetherell in Where the Great Every week In-Sight’s students explore new In a class called Exploring Southern River Rises: An Atlas of the Connecticut River photographic methods, including working Vermont, participants captured “on film” the Watershed in Vermont and New Hampshire. with long or short shutter speeds and using stone-laden West River and nearby mossy “Valley is a rhythmic word, too. But water- filters. “As young people fill the classroom paths of the Retreat Meadows. The course shed tops all its competitors, embracing the corkboard with images of landscapes, cities, fostered deeper views of a river ecosystem meaning of those two smaller words and and towns, we see the wonderful results of and of outdoor photography. flowing outward. To use the word watershed their dedication,” says Mack. “Students hiked and canoed to reach is to pay tribute to a force of linkage, togeth- The project is all about community, says beautiful wooded areas,” says Stephen Dybas, erness, interconnection.” Dybas. In the spring of 2010, for example, Director of the In-Sight Photography Project, Like a watershed, In-Sight encourages In-Sight launched a Digital Mobile Program “then photographed them in changing students to become an active part of a in southern Vermont. Instructors travel to light and environmental conditions, while larger life experience, says Dybas. “There’s rural towns, carrying digital cameras, digital learning about equipment like cable releases, a lot more to photography than showing projectors, and laptop computers loaded tripods, and filters. They discovered new someone how to point a camera and click with Adobe Photoshop. Junior high and high ways of understanding and appreciating the wonders of the natural world.” Although some In-Sight students have prior photographic experience, many have never watershed boundary d R Dummerston e l Hill o H stream r Wickopee u touched a camera. “Few have had the chance g u Hill A d lake or pond e y TO h r WN OF DUMMERS TON rs a d e d TO significant wetland R t WN OF n BRATTL EBORO a u o W b to delve into what photography reveals,” says woodland d n S o u " n " P Bear s " e " " structures t Hill L a h t k r e Vermont resident Jon Mack, President of o N R town boundary d P l e a Pleasant s a paved highways n t Valley V In-Sight’s Board of Directors, “from the tiny d a d Reservoir l R l R e Hidden H y e l w a unpaved highways, o o l R H Lake ll l a d r o d roads, and drives u H a S g Ha u u h milto y n rc n R s A u d e h t C B details of a snail, to expansive landscapes, to ?z r L 50-foot contours a o Richardson k o e M Central Mountain k R a O ?z c d Mountain A r t h OR u r the nitty-gritty of real-life experience.” RO R EB d d L W R BO TT h e k RL t o o A RA s t r b B M o n ?z w ?z o O In-Sight’s efforts are largely supported e d !a Retreat B k r r o c o a h Meadows C e OF Ik o OF a M r t d n Marlboro S n Round ar ?³ e ed c WN Mountain t C i 1475 ft A c through its major fundraiser, an annual m u e TOWN Lyman s TO t Rd H West i Brattleboro l S l Hill Rd R af t th e nl i 1993 ft e St Brattleboro v A e ou m e r e S s r C Ames G o Hi w ll p Hill ill B autumn auction of works donated by a H ro o ?z Aá t s h e k R W d m 4 A h 0 et B s ton k d e R t S e l n Ginseng i a Maple S t a photographers from the well-known to v y Hill M Rd n S rg n bu o s B Añ e in H ed St sh r te y a ar Fa the enthusiast. A part of last fall’s auction th d irground W n Rd u u !a bo So St d r o proceeds was shared with Vermont flood uilf G Ik victims to support their recovery. Individual TOWN OF BRATTL EBORO TOWN OF GUILFORD patrons, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Vermont Arts ABOVE | The Whetstone Brook Watershed covers nearly 28 square miles, or 72 square kilometers, in southern Council, Vermont’s Stratton Foundation, and Vermont. From a map produced by the Windham Regional Commission, Brattleboro, VT. BELOW LEFT | Latchis other organizations also fund In-Sight. Hotel and other businesses flooded during Irene.Photo credit: Annie Flanagan. BELOW RIGHT | Williams Street In water terms, In-Sight has grown from a after floodwaters had receded.Photo credit: Christina Bernales Oceanography | March 2012 9 school students in these areas otherwise One student remembers that “living with photographers captured Whetstone Brook wouldn’t have access to photography classes.